THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 267, December 10, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE USA PATRIOT ACT: ESSENTIAL TO HOMELAND SECURITY
By President George Walker Bush
THE USA PATRIOT ACT: A LAW PROVIDING LEGAL WEAPONS ESSENTIAL TO AMERICA'S EFFECTIVELY WAGING THE WAR
ON TERRORISM & PREVENTING THE ISLAMIST ENEMY FROM ATTACKING THE AMERICAN HOMELAND AGAIN
FULL STORY:
This week, members of a House and Senate conference committee reached an agreement on reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act.
Since its passage after the Islamist terrorist attacks of September the 11, 2001, the Patriot Act has proved essential to fighting the war
on terror and preventing our enemies from striking America again.
This week's agreement would renew all 16 provisions of the Patriot Act that are scheduled to expire at the
end of this month, and it would make 14 of these provisions permanent. It reauthorizes critical national
security tools, while bolstering the Patriot Act's significant protections of civil liberties. It also includes
provisions to fight crime and terrorism at America's seaports, and tougher criminal penalties and increased
resources to combat the dangerous spread of methamphetamine abuse throughout our country.
I applaud the conference committee for its good work. Now Congress
needs to finish the job. Both the Senate and the House need to hold a
prompt vote, and send me a bill renewing the Patriot Act so I can sign it
into law.
Over the past four years, the Patriot Act has been a strong weapon for
going after the terrorists. America's law enforcement and intelligence
personnel have put the Patriot Act to wise and effective use, while protecting
our civil liberties. They have used the law to prosecute terrorist operatives
and supporters and to break up terror cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia,
California, Texas, and Ohio. The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly
what it was designed to do. It has protected American liberty and saved
American lives.
By renewing the Patriot Act, we will ensure that our law enforcement and
intelligence officers have the tools they need to protect our citizens. The Patriot Act tore down the legal and
bureaucratic wall that kept law enforcement and intelligence authorities from sharing vital information about
terrorist threats. Now law enforcement and intelligence officers are working together.
The Patriot Act also allowed federal investigators to pursue terrorists with the same tools they already use
against other criminals. For example, before the Patriot Act, it was easier to track the phone calls of a drug
dealer than the phone calls of a terrorist. Before the Patriot Act, it was easier to get the credit card receipts
of a tax cheat than those of an al-Qa'ida bankroller. The Patriot Act ended these double standards. The
theory is straightforward: If we have good tools to fight street crime and fraud, then law enforcement should
have at least the same tools to fight terrorism.
The Patriot Act is helping America defeat our enemies, while safeguarding civil liberties for all our people.
The judicial branch has a strong oversight role in the application of the Patriot Act. Under the act, law
enforcement officers need a federal judge's permission to wiretap a foreign terrorist's phone or search his
property.
Congress also oversees our use of the Patriot Act. Attorney General Gonzales delivers regular
reports on the Patriot Act to the House and the Senate.
If Congress fails to act, the valuable protections of the Patriot Act will expire at the end of this month, but
the terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this
vital law for a single moment. So I urge Congress to approve the conference committee agreement promptly
and reauthorize the Patriot Act.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The USA Patriot Act
Terrorism & American Homeland Security
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
President George W. Bush delivered the foregoing message as a radio address on December 10, 2005.
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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