Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
The U.S. Patriot Act was originally passed in October 2001, in the aftermath of 9/11.
The legislation granted substantial new powers to the government in an effort to bolster its arsenal against domestic terrorism.
During Senate deliberation of this measure, then Wisconsin Senator Fuss Feingold cast the lone vote — in the infamous 98-to 1 vote in the U.S. Senate.
Now nearly 14 years later, the Patriot Act appears to have come full circle – as portions of the Act expired after the Senate was unable to reach an agreement extend it last Sunday night.
Regrettably, America’s most recent foray into the murky-area of massive intelligence gathering can be traced directly back to George W. Bush and his calculated war on terror following 9/11.
His administration conveniently used a national emergence as an opportunity to unleash a Pandora’s Box: Invasion of Iraq, the Patriot Act and the National Security Agency (NSA).
A lot has happened since the initial enactment of the Patriot Act; and consequently, we have seen a number of our civil liberties eroded as a result.
Under the guise of promoting national security, the National Security Agency (NSA) has run amok.
Edward Snowden’s disclosures that the NSA was collecting bulk records of all US phone calls in order to sift out potential terrorist targets came as a shock to most of us.
To add insult to injury, the NSA also engaged in a surreptitious campaign of eavesdropping in which the phone calls of world leaders were monitored.
This revelation has in turn infuriated several of America’s closest allies.
True enough, the provisions that gave the NSA the authority to spy on Americans and on foreign heads of state lapsed last Sunday, but don’t get too excited.
The Republican-controlled Congress will definitely bring them back with a few changes. This begs the question: Should the Patriot Act be re-authorized?
In pondering a response, I’m often reminded of Senator Feingold’s prophetic words when the Senate first took up the Patriot Act, “it is crucial that civil liberties in this country be preserved. Otherwise, I’m afraid terror will win this battle without firing a shot.”
In hindsight, truer words have never been spoken.