It is one thing to ask Americans to "get ready" for terrorism, as Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is doing. It is quite another to ask them to give up their basic liberties to fight terrorism, as Ridge's Cabinet mate, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and his U.S. Department of Justice apparently plan to do.
While Ridge at least has helped us focus on practical safety measures, Ashcroft & Co. have been busy drafting an outrageous assault on our freedoms. A 120-page draft legislative proposal with the benign title of Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, marked "Confidential - Not for Distribution," leaked out last month. It is being dubbed "Patriot II" - a sequel to the USA Patriot Act the administration rammed through Congress after 9/11 - but there is nothing patriotic about it in any real sense.
It is an abomination. Among dozens of creepy provisions, it would:
• Allow secret arrests in terrorism investigations and gag orders on those subpoenaed in such cases.
• Allow an individual, whether linked to a terrorist group or not, to be designated a "foreign power."
• Expand the attorney general's power to authorize wiretaps and searches without court orders.
• Allow deportation of legal immigrants if the attorney general believes they are a security threat.
• Share Americans' personal information - including financial data - with local law enforcement.
• "Correct" sunset provisions built into parts of the USA Patriot Act.
Read the proposal for yourself online.
DOJ argues it has a duty to consider as many security ideas as it can. That is a fair point. But this is no mere "discussion draft," as a DOJ spokeswoman called it, or collection of notes from a brainstorming session. It is a detailed, fully crafted bill, ready to pop into the legislative hopper.
This proposal ought to anger Americans who cherish liberty. If you'd like to contact your members of Congress about it, use our online links.
It is possible that DOJ plans to foist Patriot II on Congress in the event of another terrorist attack, when the public would be clamoring for greater protection. In that case, Benjamin Franklin's oft-quoted warning - "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety"- has seldom been more timely.
Certainly, Americans deserve far better than Patriot II.
