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Ashcroft Slams Anti–Patriot Act Bill, Threatens Bush VetoIn a four-page letter sent to congressional leaders January 28, Attorney General John Ashcroft said that pending legislation to scale back the Patriot Act would not only “roll back many of the most important and useful anti-terrorism authorities” of the controversial law, but “would make it even more difficult to mount an effective anti-terror campaign than it was before the Patriot Act was passed.” He added that if Congress passed the Security and Freedom Ensured (Safe) Act, President Bush would veto the bill. Among the sections of the Safe Act criticized by Ashcroft was one prohibiting the use of national security letters to obtain information from libraries about electronic communications. “The Safe Act would make it more difficult, in some circumstances, to obtain information about e-mails sent from public computer terminals at libraries than it would be to obtain the same information about e-mails sent from home computers,” Ashcroft said. “Ironically, it would extend a greater degree of privacy to activities that occur in a public place than to those taking place in a home.” “The attorney general’s attack on the Safe Act shows how out of step the Bush Administration is with growing national concern over the Patriot Act,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. “Ironically, the veto threat also demonstrates that the Safe Act is becoming an increasingly viable legislative measure, one that has obviously put the Ashcroft Justice Department on the defensive.” The Safe Act was introduced last year by Senators Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.); a companion bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Butch Otter (R-Idaho). Posted January 30, 2004. |
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