[huridocs-tech] USA: Support strong privacy protections. Oppose PATRIOT 2

As the Senate continues consideration of historic legislation to reform
the intelligence agencies, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is offering two anti-civil
liberties amendments. We need to tell Senators that privacy must be
protected. Urge them to vote against the Kyl amendments

The Senate intelligence reform legislation would create a Civil Liberties
Board in the Executive Branch of the federal government to oversee
counter-terrorism programs that have implications for privacy or free
speech. The Senate bill also would create Privacy and Civil Liberties
Officers in various federal agencies that handle personal information.
Together, these two mechanisms could provide important checks on
government overreaching.

One of Senator Kyl's amendments would severely weaken a proposed Civil
Liberties Board and would block the creation of Privacy and Civil
Liberties Officers.

The other Kyl amendment would expand the USA PATRIOT Act with a variety
of new powers, including giving the FBI so-called "administrative
subpoena" authority, meaning that FBI agents could demand paper and
electronic documents without judicial approval. A broad coalition of
public interest groups from across the political spectrum is opposing
the Kyl PATRIOT 2 amendment.

CDT Letter Opposing the Kyl Amendment to Gut the Civil Liberties Board:
http://www.cdt.org/security/patriot2/20041001cdt.pdf

Right-Left Coalition Letter Opposing Kyl "Patriot 2" Amendment:
http://www.cdt.org/security/patriot2/20041001coalition.pdf

What you Can Do:

1. Call your Senators!

Your Senators are: Kennedy at (202)224-4543 and Sen. Kerry at (202)224-2742.

Ask for the staffer who is handling the 9/11 intelligence reform
legislation ("Collins-Lieberman").

2. Tell the staffer that you oppose the Kyl amendments to the Collins-
Lieberman bill. Tell them you want your Senator to cast a vote in favor
or privacy and against the Kyl amendments.

Use these words if you feel tongue-tied:

Staffer : Hello, Sen. ______'s office.

You: Hi, I'm a constituent and I am calling to urge my Senator to vote
against the Kyl amendments to the Collins-Lieberman bill. The Kyl
amendments would gut the privacy provisions of the bill and would expand
government powers without checks and balances. I support the strong
Civil Liberties Board in the Collins-Lieberman bill, but Senator Kyl
would weaken it. Sen Kyl's other amendment amounts to a PATRIOT 2, which
is premature. Please urge the Senator to vote no on the Kyl amendments.

Staffer : I'll tell the Senator. Thanks, bye!

3. Let us know what happened

Did you talk to someone? Were they agreeable? Tell us at our feedback form:

Sen. Kennedy: http://www.cdt.org/action/feedback.cgi?membid=masr
Sen. Kerry: http://www.cdt.org/action/feedback.cgi?membid=majr

4. Tell Others

Tell your family and friends to call their Senators as well. You can refer
them to this URL: http://www.cdt.org/action/patriot2/ so they can look up
their elected officials's phone numbers. Feel free to include links to
that page in blogs as well.

Sample Text for a Blog:
Legislation is pending in the U.S. Senate to reform the intelligence
agencies -- and Senator Jon Kyl is trying to add PATRIOT 2 language
to the bill and to gut the privacy provisions. Urge your Senators to
oppose the Kyl amendments. Congress should be strengthening privacy
protections, not watering them down and expanding government power.
See http://www.cdt.org/action/patriot2/ for more information.



Background: 9/11 Commission Legislation Has Serious Implications for
Privacy and Civil Liberties

Under the pressure of election year politics, both the House and Senate
are considering legislation to reform the nation's intelligence agencies.
In the process, privacy and other civil liberties are at risk.

The legislation is intended more or less to implement the recommendations
of the commission that studied the intelligence failures associated with
the 9/11 attacks. The bipartisan commission issued its best-selling report
on July 22, 2004. Immediately, some politicians called for swift adoption
of the Commission's recommendations, which include the establishment of a
National Intelligence Director and the creation of a government-wide
information sharing capability.

The Senate bill has been reported by Committee and is pending on the
Senate floor, to be voted on this week. The House will take up its bill
on Wednesday, October 6. The Senate bill addresses only issues raised by
the 9/11 Commission, but the House bill extends far beyond the scope of
the Commission's report.

9/11 Commission Report: http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/index.htm
Senate Bill, S. 2845 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:s.02845:
House Bill, H.R. 10 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.00010:
CDT Policy Post 10.16: http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_10.16.shtml


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