May 26, 2004: On Eve of Bush Visit to TN, ACLU-TN Says President is Misleading Tennesseans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2004

ACLU-TN Says President Is Misleading Tennesseans in New TV Ads

Nashville - On the eve of President Bush's visit to Nashville, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) urges the Tennessee Congressional Delegation and Tennesseans to reject the latest call by the Bush administration to extend the USA Patriot Act. The ACLU said that the president’s renewed request, which came in new campaign advertising that began airing on Tuesday, is misleading and ignores strong bi-partisan support for fixes to the law.

"Legitimate questions about the Patriot Act should not be exploited for partisan politics," said ACLU-TN Executive Director Hedy Weinberg. "Unfortunately the president is using his reelection campaign to mislead the American people about the Patriot Act and its ramifications."

"President Bush suggests that the fix-Patriot legislation would repeal parts of the Patriot Act and take away powers from law enforcement. That is untrue. In the interest of sound counter-terrorism policy, both prominent Republicans and Democrats support revisions to the overly broad USA PATRIOT Act which removed judicial review and checks against abuses from authorities. The changes being called for would put laws back in place to prevent innocent people from being swept up."

The ACLU said the new Bush ads echo misstatements made in Mr. Bush’s earlier stump speeches on the Patriot Act in Buffalo and Hershey, Pennsylvania. The president’s ads started to run in 18 states. Tennesseans can view the ads on cable news networks, including CNN and MSNBC.

The 30-second spots suggest that proposed changes to the Patriot Act would bar federal agents from using new surveillance and investigative powers against terrorists that it claims are "routinely" used against common criminals. In actuality, the main Patriot-fix bill, supported by conservatives and liberals alike, called the Security and Freedom Ensured, or SAFE, Act would simply narrow several of the Patriot Act’s most contentious provisions, requiring greater judicial review and more checks against abuse. Nothing in the act would eliminate the secret search and surveillance powers authorized or expanded in the Patriot Act.

"The president’s ad is misleading in that it appears to make the assertion that these powers were not available for anti-terrorism investigations of criminal suspects prior to the Patriot Act," Weinberg said. "Law enforcement officials could wiretap suspected criminals, whether they were alleged terrorists or drug dealers, before the Patriot Act."

The ACLU emphasized that its criticism of the new ads is non-partisan.

"We have worked with elected officials from both the Democratic and Republican party on Patriot Act issues," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. The ACLU adheres to a strict institutional policy that forbids it from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office.

"Over the last year, we’ve seen bi-partisan efforts to fix some of the worst provisions of the Patriot Act," Murphy added. "Many prominent Republicans and Democrats want to restore checks and balances on excessive federal power that, if left on the books, could be used against activists and organizations from all sides of the political spectrum."

Republican Senators Larry Craig and Michael Crapo, both from Idaho, and John Sununu from New Hampshire are primary co-sponsors of the SAFE Act. Other supporters of the legislation include Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Richard Durbin of Illinois. The House version of the SAFE Act is being championed by Representative C.L. "Butch" Otter, a pro-gun, pro-"family values" Idahoan.

Last week, Orrin Hatch, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pledged that he would hold hearings about the SAFE Act, saying that his colleagues believe "it is something that should be done."

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