Earlier this week, Attorney General John Ashcroft visited Milwaukee in a desperate attempt to drum up support for an increasingly unpopular piece of legislation-the U.S. Patriot Act.
Passed with abruptness as a wartime measure after Sept. 11, the act has fallen into disrepute around the country as an increasingly large number of critics unite to denounce the Justice Department for seeking such a measure.
The law's foibles are well-known but deserve repeating. Under this legislation, the Justice Department can wiretap phones, search library records and investigate financial and personal records-all without giving proper notice.
Worse, there has been discussion recently, albeit an unlikely, that further \anti-terrorist"" legislation is necessary, and could result in a Patriot Act II.
Fortunately for all of us who care about the fundamental freedoms the government is supposed to be upholding rather than usurping, Wisconsin has several elected officials, from both parties, who are wary of the Patriot Act. Sen. Russ Feingold's, D-Wis., lone vote against the legislation immediately after Sept. 11 was controversial at the time, but has proven to be inline with the traditional value usually placed upon the sacredness of individual freedoms.
More recently, Representative James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and head of the Judiciary Committee, was angered at being kept in the dark by the Justice Department, which refuses to release how many checks on Americans have been done. Sensenbrenner spoke out about the unlikely chance the act would be renewed at its expiration in 2005. Going even further, Sensenbrenner passed additional legislation that would automatically cause the mandatory expiration of certain parts of the law in 2005, and thankfully work toward submitting it to an early death.
We must implore to join Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont and more than 150 individual communities including Madison, in denouncing the legislation as being heavy-handed, secretive and without merit in our fight against terrorism. Though we as a state remain subject first and foremost to Federal legislation, by making our voice heard we have a chance to derail both the Patriot Act currently on the books, and also the possibility of a Patriot Act II.
We owe it to each other to devote our energy in preserving our liberties and our freedoms. For those of us who consider ourselves patriots, the real act of devotion to our country must be to oppose any measures that eradicate the values and ideals that would lead one to become a patriot to begin with.
