FC: Libertarian Party says to celebrate 9-11 by protecting freedom

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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From: "George Getz" <GeorgeGetz () hq LP org>
Subject: LP RELEASE: How to pay tribute  to 9/11 victims
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 18:44:30 -0400

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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
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For release: September 10, 2002
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For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: pressreleases () hq LP org
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Pay tribute to victims of 9/11 attacks
by restoring Americans' freedom, Libertarians say

WASHINGTON, DC -- As the nation commemorates the victims of the 9/11
terrorist attacks, Libertarians are urging the government to pay
tribute to them by restoring the full constitutional rights that
Americans enjoyed before that tragic event.

"September 11 is a day for Americans to proclaim, 'We will never
surrender,' " said Steve Dasbach, Libertarian Party executive director.
"We will never surrender to the terrorists who threaten our safety, nor
will we surrender our fundamental liberties to the government."

On the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington that claimed nearly 3,000 lives, Americans are reliving the
shock and brutality of the event, sharing in the anguish of the victims
and struggling to come to grips with the "day that changed everything."

And as the nation participates in various displays of patriotism,
Libertarians are urging the government to restore the freedoms that
were taken away in the aftermath of the attacks so Americans can
reclaim the liberty that is their birthright.

"In the trauma following the 9/11 attacks, an anxious public was
clamoring for politicians to 'do something,' " said Dasbach.
"Unfortunately, they did the wrong thing, by passing laws restricting
the freedom of innocent people."

Just six weeks after the event, Congress passed the Patriot Act, which
expands the government's power to tap phones, monitor the Internet,
conduct 'sneak-and-peak' searches and even gives the FBI power to force
librarians and bookstores to reveal the names of  customers.

And that was just the beginning of a misguided government power grab,
Dasbach said.

"President Bush now asserts that he has the power to proclaim - without
showing evidence - that American citizens are 'enemy combatants,' and
then to order them jailed indefinitely without charges, without access
to a lawyer and without the right to appeal.

"Attorney General John Ashcroft, according to a Wall Street Journal
article, plans to set up camps for more such enemy combatants who will
be jailed without charges, and a cowardly Congress declines to speak
out against these police-state tactics."

Now Congress and the president should admit that mistakes were made in
the post-9/11 rush to legislate, Libertarians say.

"It's time to repeal the Patriot Act and to renounce Bush's
breathtaking presidential power grab before any more damage is done to
American freedom," Dasbach said.

Another thing the government should do to commemorate 9/11,
Libertarians say, is to reform U.S. foreign policy to reduce the chance
of more terror attacks.

"Bush seems oblivious to one of the lessons of 9/11, which is that
meddling in hostile foreign nations doesn't solve problems; it causes
them," Dasbach said.  "Now the president is poised to invade Iraq - a
nation that poses no imminent threat to the United States - in a move
that could prompt terrorists to execute more barbarous attacks on our
shores.

"The only thing that could be worse than the tragedy of September 11
would be to have another such massacre, and another one after that.
"The best way to honor those who perished on September 11 is by
ensuring that more Americans - and more American freedoms - don't
perish as well."




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