DOJ defends Patriot Act, starts to attack members of Congress [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            OPA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 
2003 
(202) 514-2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOV                                                                                   TDD (202) 514-1888


STATEMENT OF MARK CORALLO, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS,
ON THE USA PATRIOT ACT:

"The PATRIOT Act has been one of the most important tools the Congress 
provided to law enforcement to prevent terrorist attacks.  After six weeks 
of intense scrutiny, negotiation, and debate, the Congress passed the Act 
by overwhelmingly bipartisan margins in both the House of Representatives 
and Senate.  In fact, the reason the Act passed by 98-1 in the Senate and 
357-66 in the House was largely due to the fact that Congress understood 
that this important legislation would respect civil liberties while 
protecting the lives of the American people from terrorism.  As Senator 
Schumer said during the debate of the Act, 'If there is one key word that 
underscores this bill, it is "balance." . . . The balance between the need 
to update our laws given the new challenges and the need to maintain our 
basic freedoms which distinguish us from our enemies is real.'

"We share the Congress' commitment to defend and strengthen civil 
liberties.  To date, both the courts and the Congress have found the 
government's use of the PATRIOT Act to be appropriate and thoroughly 
respectful of the liberties enshrined in the Constitution.  Those who would 
seek to repeal or water down the important tools in the PATRIOT Act would 
return America to the level of vulnerability to terrorist attack that 
existed prior September 11, 2001.

"It is important to note that many of those in and out of Congress who now 
advocate weakening the law, opposed many of the measures in the 1996 
Anti-Terrorism Act passed by Congress and signed by then-President 
Clinton.  They believed then that the government already had too much 
authority to investigate and prevent terrorist activity."

NOTE:  For more information about the PATRIOT Act, please visit 
www.lifeandliberty.gov <http://www.lifeandliberty.gov>.

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