Editor's note: This story updates one released July 19.
WASHINGTON — (ABP) If some of the Patriot Act's provisions aren't allowed to expire, groups like pro-life demonstrators, defenders of traditional marriage and evangelicals who disagree with the administration's foreign policy might find themselves under investigation as terrorists, members of an unusual left-right coalition said July 19.
In a Washington press conference held by a group calling itself Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, members of both liberal and conservative civil-liberties groups said they are asking Congress to spend time reviewing and debating the merits of the Patriot Act. The act, hastily passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is due to expire soon. It is currently before the House and expected for reauthorization.
The Patriot Act gave government agencies broad new powers to pursue suspected terrorists and terrorist organizations. Civil libertarians on both the left and the right ends of the political spectrum have criticized many of its provisions as too broad and dangerous to the very freedoms the law's supporters aim to defend.
The PRCB is a bipartisan group hoping to “fix the Patriot Act to enable the government to fight terror while preserving important checks and balances on law enforcement, thus limiting undue government intrusion into the private lives of average Americans,” according to documents the group provided to reporters.
The coalition listed concerns with a section of the law as one of several reasons why “conservatives should support a robust debate on the Patriot Act.”
That section defines terrorism as “any act that is dangerous to human life.”
PRCB materials said Section 802 of the act regards an action that “involves a violation of any state or federal law, and appears to be intended to influence government policy or coerce a civilian population. This definition is far too broad and vague, and could easily sweep in pro-life demonstrators, among others.”
Other reasons the group listed for conservatives to oppose rushed re-authorization of the Patriot Act included:
— Its alleged disregard of the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure;
— Section 213 of the act, which allows government to secretly search someone's home or office, seize their possessions and not inform the person of the search for months.
— Section 215, which allows the government to ask for secret court authorizations so officials can collect medical, financial, library and other personal records — whether or not the person searched is suspected of a crime or of being an agent of foreign power.
Members of PRCB include the American Conservative Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Tax Reform and former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.).
President Bush defended the Patriot Act during a July 20 speech in Baltimore.
“I want you to remember…the next time you hear someone make an unfair criticism of this important, good law,” President Bush said. “The Patriot Act hasn't diminished American liberties; it has helped to defend American liberties.
“Before the Patriot Act, it was easier to track the phone contacts of a drug dealer than the phone contacts of a terrorist. Before the Patriot Act, it was easier to get the credit-card receipts of a tax cheat than that of an al Qaeda bankroller. Before the Patriot Act, agents could use wire taps to investigate a person committing mail fraud, but not specifically to investigate a foreign terrorist carrying deadly weapons. Before the Patriot Act, investigators could follow the calls of mobsters who switched cell phones, but not terrorists who switched cell phones. That didn't make any sense. The Patriot Act ended all these double standards.”
He ended his remarks by saying he expected Congress to renew the act “without weakening our ability to fight terror.”