TOTAL INFORMATION ANALYSIS

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

As the ACLU is reporting, the Senate Intelligence Committee will be holding a closed hearing on USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization on Thursday, May 19.

Our Washington sources report that not only are Senators on the committee planning to renew almost all of the handful of PATRIOT provisions that are set to "Sunset" at the end of 2005, but are also planning to expand many police-state PATRIOT powers as well.

On the drawing board are ideas to expand surveillance powers in so-called "terrorist" as well as criminal investigations. Administrative subpoenas, an instrument to circumvent judge-signed search warrants, are a particular favorite.

House and Senate Judiciary Committees have held the vast majority of hearings on the PATRIOT Act compared to their Intelligence Committee counterparts. The move by the Intelligence Committee is seen on Capitol Hill as a sneaky power grab.

If you want to express your outrage and demand open hearings on the PATRIOT Act, call Intelligence Chariman Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts at 202-224-4774 (fax 202-224-3514) or the Senate Intelligence Committee at 202-224-1700. The ranking Democrat member of the Intelligence Committee is West Virginia Sen. John Rockefeller, (202) 224-6472.

The USA PATRIOT Act police-state bill was passed in the atmosphere of fear and panic after September 11, while the infrastructure of the Congress was crippled by the militarized anthrax-by-mail attacks.

| Posted at 23:44 | PERMA-LINK |

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