On Feb. 7, the Center for Public Integrity received a secret Justice Department draft of a bill that would expand the powers given to the government under the 2001 PATRIOT Act. Following brief media attention shortly after the release, this serious issue has faded into obscurity. It requires more public attention and scrutiny.
The draft, entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 and commonly called PATRIOT Act II, gives unprecedented powers to the Justice Department and law enforcement nationwide. It is a perverse invasion of American civil liberties. Among many new regulations, the draft bill includes:
* Allowing the attorney general to authorize wire taps without court approval during time of war. “Time of war” does not necessarily mean congressionally declared war, but any authorized military action, or if the United States is attacked.
* Expansion of the Title III wiretapping regulations allowing taps with little or no court supervision.
* Prohibiting those who receive subpoenas in a terrorism case from saying so to anyone other than their lawyer; essentially a gag order on witnesses.
* Creation of a DNA database for suspected terrorists. A person can have his or her DNA added to the database even if the person committed no crime.
* Authorization of secret arrests.
* American citizens could lose their citizenship if they if they are a member of a group that the United States has designated a terrorist organization. Previous requirements for relinquishing citizenship stated a person must declare a clear intent to do so; the new bill says intent to relinquish can be inferred.
* Non-citizens could be deported even if they have not committed any immigration violations.
* Decrees that prohibit police from spying could be eliminated.
This is but a taste of the authoritarian policies outlined in PATRIOT Act II. The War on Terror is quickly deteriorating into a war on the Bill of Rights. The tactics described above are eerily similar to those used by the much-despised communist regimes during the Cold War. Secret arrests, unchecked wiretapping, the “disappearing” of people. Weren’t these all things the United States fought to end from 1945 to 1991?
This Orwellian bill is contrary to everything democracy should stand for. The Bush administration has tried to justify its actions under the all-encompassing “national security” argument. National security is not an excuse for stripping people of their freedoms. If Bush and Ashcroft keep going at this pace, the problem of the terrorists hating us for our freedom will soon be solved.
