A "lone wolf" provision that applies the Patriot Act's surveillance and investigation provisions to persons acting alone. (The Senate has already passed this as a stand-alone bill.)

Penalties for failure to cooperate with overbroad powers for the FBI to issue secret National Security Letters (NSLs) requesting private information, with no checks and balances.

Secret use of information from NSLs in immigration proceedings, which would deny immigrants their fifth and fourteenth amendment protections from being "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." There is no evidence that the FBI needs these provisions. Furthermore, it is too early to consider expanding the USA PATRIOT Act. We have not yet had adequate congressional oversight of how the government is using the surveillance provisions of the PATRIOT Act. Some provisions of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire at the end of 2005, so Congress will need to review them next year -- when all of these issues can be publicly debated and analyzed.

The intelligence authorization bill generally contains many important provisions, and it must pass every year, so it is difficult for members of Congress to vote against it even if it contains some provisions they oppose. Therefore, it is critical to stop the inclusion of HR 3179 in committee.

In this e-mail you will find

·Background information

·What you can do

.Links for more information

·Sample phone script and e-mail blog

·Reminder: CLRA introduction Tuesday, June 8

Background Information

Last year, Reps. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Porter Goss (R-FL) introduced HR 3179, a bill that would expand the FBI's ability to obtain records without a court order and wiretap people without meeting normal constitutional standards. After various organizations voiced opposition to the bill, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on HR 3179 last month, where former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) testified against the bill.

After the hearing, it was reported that Rep. Goss, who is the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, was likely to tack the provisions of HR 3179 onto the annual intelligence authorization bill, which his committee debates and votes on behind closed doors.

You may recall that last December, another section from Patriot II, which expanded the FBI's ability to use secret National Security Letters, was tacked on to the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2004 without the knowledge of most members of Congress. It was passed, and President Bush signed the bill on Saturday, December 13, the day of Saddam Hussein's capture by U.S. forces in Iraq. Texas Congressman Ron Paul called the tactic "a stealth enactment of the enormously unpopular 'Patriot II' legislation."

To stop this stealth tactic from being reused, the grassroots must show its strength and resolve to protect and restore our civil liberties.

What You Can Do

If you oppose this bill and the undemocratic process of, please call your Representative during this National Call-In Week to Protect Civil Liberties (June 7-11). Tell your Rep. that you oppose expanding the PATRIOT Act and do not want the House Intelligence Committee to tack provisions of HR 3179 onto the intelligence authorization bill. (See sample phone script below) To obtain the phone number for your Representative, call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-225-3121 or visithttp://www.congress.org/

Links for More Information HR 3179's Bill Text, Summary, and Status: "http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.03179 Conservative Opposition to the Bill at: http://www.spectator.org/util/print.asp?art_id=6644 Bob Barr's full testimony before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security's hearing on HR 3179, which was held on May 18th: www.bordc.org Email: mailto:info@bordc.org Phone: 413-582-0110

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