October 3, 2003: Help Fix the USA PATRIOT Act -
Recruit Senator Frist

Dear Friends,

We need you help in recruiting Senator Bill Frist to be a co-sponsor of the Senate's first bi-partisan version of a fix-it PATRIOT Bill.

Senators Craig and Durbin filed a major bill yesterday called the SAFE Act (Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003). The bill (S 1709) seeks to amend the USA PATRIOT Act "to place reasonable limitations on the use of surveillance and the issuance of search warrants..."

In a nutshell, the SAFE Act seeks to:

-Limit roving wire taps under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).

-Limit the FBI's authority to delay notice of search warrants.

-Provide privacy protections for library, bookseller, and other personal records under FISA.

-Provide privacy protections for computer users at libraries under national security authority, and

-Extend the PATRIOT Act sunset provision to other parts of the legislation.

Senator Frist can prove to be key to getting this bill passed. We need to make sure that he does two things: sign on as a co-sponsor to this bill and make sure that this is able to get through the Senate and through the conference process when the House and Senate versions are marked up. The link to our action alert is below. We need you to help us by flooding Mr. Frist's offices with calls, letters and faxes. We need you to encourage him to be fully supportive of this bipartisan fix to some of the most troublesome provisions within the PATRIOT Act.

Here is the link: http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=13907&a%20mp;c= 24

Your help is essential to our efforts to get this bill passed in the Senate--and in bringing us another step closer to rolling back those most troubling provisions of the PATRIOT Act.

Many thanks,
Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director