Nation & World News
Ashcroft to tour in defense
of embattled Patriot Act
The attorney general says the
Patriot Act is a vital tool in fighting
terrorism; opponents contend his
arguments invoke a “straw man”
By Michelle Mittelstadt
The Dallas Morning News (KRT)
WASHINGTON - Attorney Gen
eral John Ashcroft launched a cam
paign-style offensive to defend the
Patriot Act on Tuesday, responding
to rising signs of unease around the
country and on Capitol Hill about
aspects of the sweeping anti-terror
ism law.
Ashcroft, who will travel to more
than a dozen cities in the coming
weeks to tout the Patriot Act, provid
ed a rousing defense of the 2001 law
during a speech before a conservative
leaning think tank, the American En
terprise Institute.
"We have used these tools to pre
vent terrorists from unleashing more
death and destruction on our soil. We
have used these tools to save innocent
American lives. We have used these
tools to provide the security that en
sures liberty," he said, standing in
front of a backdrop stamped with the
words "Preserving Life and Liberty."
Less visible was the reason for the
counteroffensive: a surprising vote in
the Republican-led House last month
to deprive the Justice Department of
one of its Patriot Act tools, other pro
posed legislative curbs and a cam
paign by an unusual left-right coali
tion to rein in parts of the law.
Groups across the political divide,
from the American Civil Liberties
Union to the American Conservative
Union and the Eagle Eorum, have
banded together to question whether
the Bush administration's tactics in
the war on terrorism intrude on
Americans' civil liberties.
To date, 152 communities and the
legislatures in Alaska, Hawaii and Ver
mont have approved resolutions con
demning the Patriot Art.
More troubling, perhaps, to the
Justice Department was the House's
overwhelming approval last month
of an amendment that would ban
"sneak-and-peek" warrants permit
ting secret searches.
The Patriot Act, which greatly ex
panded the government's surveillance
and detention powers for suspected
terrorists and their alleged associates,
was passed resoundingly by lawmak
ers in the weeks after the Sept. 11 ter
rorist attacks. Some of its provisions
are set to expire in 2005.
Worried by what they describe as
mischaracterizations and misunder
standing of the Patriot Act, Justice
Department officials drew up a trav
el schedule for Ashcroft and are en
couraging the nation's 94 U S. attor
neys to discuss the law at town
hall meetings.
The attorney general's schedule
does not contemplate any meetings
that would allow die public to ques
tion him about the law. Instead, he'll
appear before law enforcement audi
ences later this week in Philadelphia,
Cleveland, Detroit and Des Moines,
Iowa. The still evolving schedule also
includes trips to Boston, Milwaukee
and Salt Lake City, aides said.
The Justice Department counterof
fensive comes complete with a new
Web site (www.lifeandliberty.gov) de
signed to deflate the "myths" diat de
partment officials say Patriot Act crit
ics and ill-informed members of the
media are peddling.
Offering a preview of his message,
Ashcroft forcefully defended the con
stitutionality and the success of the
government's anti-terrorism tacdcs.
1 le cautioned against repeal of the
Patriot Act, saying: "To abandon
these tools would senselessly imperil
American lives and American liberty,
and it would ignore the lessons of
September 11th."
ACLU legislative counsel Tim Edgar
described the attorney general's repeal
talk as a "straw man."
"Nobody is talking about repealing
the Patriot Act," he said in an inter
view. "The critics of the Patriot Act
have concerns about five or six very
important provisions, and we've pro
posed and supported legislation that
would provide for more checks and
balances for those provisions."
As for the Justice Department's Pa
triot tour, Edgar said, "I think that
they are clearly seeing the shift in
momentum.''
The Free Congress Foundation, a
conservative group that is making
common cause with the ACLU on
this issue, agreed that the dynamics
are favoring the critics.
"I think we have a very good argu
ment to make that you can work to
fight terrorism and at the same time
work to make sure that as much of our
freedom is intact," said Steve Lilienthal,
director of privacy and technology at
the Free Congress Foundation.
Opposition is being fomented by a
"small and vocal minority," Justice
Department spokeswoman Barbara
Comstock said, and is not indicative
of the support Americans express for
the Patriot Act in polls.
Justice officials point to a July 31
poll by Fox News that found 55
percent of respondents support the
Patriot Act, compared to 27 percent
opposed.
'There is strong public support for
it," Comstock said.
Laura Murphy, director of the
ACLU's Washington office, questioned
the propriety of what she termed a "Pa
triot Act charm offensive" and ques
tioned whether the tour, which hits sev
eral key battleground states, has a
political component.
Comstock and others at the depart
ment denied the allegation.
"It's not political," said spokesman
Mark Corallo. "The American people
should have the opportunity to make
their judgment based on the farts, not
on myths."
(c) 2003, the Dallas Morning News.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
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Q 2003 Oregon Football
oREGon Student Ticket Release Dates
Students enrolled for Fall 2003 classes AND paying student incidental fees can pick up
one ticket for each game at the ticket offices, located in the EMU or at the Len Casanova
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- so students should act quickly. 6,100 tickets will be available for the remaining
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California
Oregon State
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