The coalition of liberals and conservatives said it had no quarrel with the majority of the expanded counterterrorism tools that the law provided, some of which amounted to modest upgrades in the government's ability to use modern technology in wiretapping phone calls and the like. But the group said it would focus its efforts on urging Congress to scale back three provisions of the law that let federal agents conduct "sneak and peek" searches of a home or business without immediately notifying the subject of such searches; demand records from institutions like libraries and medical offices; and use a broad definition of terrorism in pursuing suspects.
The group, calling itself Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, asked Mr. Bush in a letter Tuesday to reconsider his "unqualified endorsement" of the law. "We agree that much of the Patriot Act is necessary to provide law enforcement with the resources they need to defeat terrorism," the letter said, "but we remain very concerned that some of its provisions go beyond its mission and infringe on the rights of law-abiding Americans, in ways that raise serious constitutional and practical concerns."
[...]
But coalition members said that the Bush administration's commitment to a dialogue struck them as somewhat half-hearted. Paul Weyrich, who is chairman of the Free Congress Foundation and a prominent conservative who joined the coalition, said he thought the administration, and in particular the former attorney general, John Ashcroft, had adopted an "absolutist" defense of the law.
Mr. Weyrich said he took offense at comments by Mr. Ashcroft suggesting that if people raised concerns about the law, "you were aiding and abetting terrorists. I don't think my colleagues here ought to be put in that position." Other conservatives who voiced concerns Tuesday included Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Taxpayer Reform; David Keane, chairman of the American Conservative Union, and leaders of the Second Amendment Foundation and other gun-rights groups.
Mr. Barr said that the group hoped "to compete with the bully pulpit of the White House" in prompting a more complete airing of the issues. "Missing from the debate has been a substantial discussion and analysis about restoring the checks and balances in the Constitution" while fighting terrorism, he said.
Where have all the Libertarian's been? The Patriot Act is the greatest threat to our civil rights in my life time. Basically, the Federal Government can do anything to any person anywhere in the world without due process or even attempts to meet a minimal due process interpretation. Everyone got scared to speak up because of the threat our nation faced from Al Qaeda.
What we must never forget is that without our liberty, we no longer are America, home of the free.
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