he antiterrorism law Congress quickly passed after 9-11 has met protest.

Both of Salt Lake City's daily newspapers have criticized the sweeping measure that gives the Justice Department broad investigation powers. Libertarians have protested at the state Capitol -- twice. And Tuesday, K-Talk radio host Barbara Jean Whitely and others plan to ask the Salt Lake City Council to join more than 150 local governments and three states that have adopted resolutions condemning the act. A protest is planned for Monday outside the hotel where the attorney general is scheduled to speak. &n And Ashcroft is crisscrossing the country, delivering a fiery speech to law enforcement officers that varies little from city to city. This week, he visited Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit and Des Moines. Monday, Ashcroft is scheduled to speak at 10:50 at the Little America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City before an invited group. He then flies to Boise for a speech, with another scheduled for Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nev.

"We have built a new ethos of justice," Ashcroft said in a speech this week at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, "one rooted in cooperation, nurtured by coordination, and focused on a single, overarching goal: the prevention of terrorist attacks. All of this has been done within the safeguards of our Constitution and its guarantees of protection for American freedom."

Groups spanning the political spectrum from the ACLU to the Eagle Forum dispute Ashcroft's interpretation of the act. At the same time, Senate Republicans are discussing the "Victory Act," new legislation sponsored by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, which would punish drug dealers connected to terrorists and expand the government's power to seize records and conduct wiretaps.

In his speeches, Ashcroft says the Patriot Act has allowed the Justict Department to neutralize terrorist cells in Buffalo, Detroit, Seattle and Portland.

Investigators have found evidence to support 255 criminal charges -- 132 suspects have been convicted or pleaded guilty. And more than 3,000 terrorist suspects have been arrested around the world.

"We have used the tools provided in the Patriot Act to fulfill our first responsibility to protect the American people," Ashcroft said. "We have used these tools to prevent terrorists from unleashing more death and destruction on our soil. We have used these tools to save innocent American lives. We have used these tools to pro nds and cooler temples, we're asking the questions we were unable to ask in the heat after the 9- 11 tragedy.

"But he takes no questions. How does he intend to spark a debate, to encourage a dialogue with the American public? Telling one side of the story to members of law enforcement and the media without taking any comments and questions is just not the American way. Mr. Ashcroft is going on the circuit to lecture at the American public and to shut them up. Clearly this is a dog and pony show."

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08232003/utah/86402.asp

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