On Oct. 29, 2009, 20 advocacy organizations signed a joint-letter applauding House members who are sponsoring a bill that would rein in controversial provisions of the Patriot Act. Introduced in the House of Representatives on Oct. 20, The USA Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R 3845) would limit broad surveillance powers used by government agencies for conducting investigations. The letter also recommends amending the bill to expand the exemption of humanitarian aid under the prohibition of material support of terrorism, and urged House members “to reject efforts to weaken the bill.” The House Judiciary Committee will consider the bill on Nov. 4.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), Subcommittee Chairman on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Subcommittee Chairman on Crime Terrorism, and Homeland Security Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the bill that addresses the three Patriot Act provisions scheduled to sunset at the end of 2009. These include investigative searches into business or library records, roving wiretaps, and “lone wolf” provisions which allow surveillance of non-US citizens not working on behalf of a foreign government. Additional information about all the provisions is available at the ACLU. According to the letter:
“Passed in 2001, the Patriot Act and its reauthorizing legislation diminished checks and balances on domestic surveillance and vastly expanded the government’s ability to collect information on Americans. Your legislation recognizes that addressing the three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act is only the first step towards restoring Americans’ privacy.”
Signed by organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Library Association, and OMB Watch, the letter commended the Representatives for “introducing legislation that seeks to limit overly broad provisions of law that have unacceptably diminished Americans’ privacy.”
In addition to the surveillance reforms, the letter requested “amending the material support for terrorism statute to expand the exemption for humanitarian aid.” Under current law, only medicine and religious materials are allowed and “charities and human rights organizations and their employees face severe legal sanctions, including prison time, for providing aid essential to saving lives.” The letter asked House members to expand the humanitarian exemption to include, “items such as food, water medical services and equipment, clothing and shelter, civil public services and educational materials and activities.”
The letter to the House members comes on the heels of the Senate Judiciary’s Committee’s approval of the USA Patriot Act Sunset Extension Act of 2009 (S. 1692) on Oct. 7. Disappointing many civil liberty advocates, the bill did little to change the provisions. In a press release Michael Macleod-Ball, the Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, said, “We are disappointed that further changes were not made to ensure Americans’ civil liberties would be adequately protected by this Patriot Act legislation. This truly was a missed opportunity for the Senate Judiciary Committee to right the wrongs of the Patriot Act.”