PATRIOT Jim Sensenbrenner

Today, Congressman Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin released the following statement. It gives an overview on the PATRIOT Act and the many obstacles that had to be overcome to reauthorize it.

On March 9, I was present at the White House when President Bush signed the PATRIOT Act reauthorization into law, and I’m pleased to report that the nation’s law enforcement authorities are now better able to ensure your personal safety while protecting your rights.

The House overwhelmingly approved the PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill by a vote of 280-138, but not without stomaching a large dose of partisan grandstanding. What made the process so contentious was that certain opportunistic legislators decided to play politics with the safety of the American people. Their rationale? The claim that the PATRIOT Act violated citizens’ civil liberties. Their proof? Little more than hot air.

Let me be clear -- there have been no civil liberty violations using the PATRIOT Act. As the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, not only did I author the PATRIOT Act, but ordered 12 Judiciary Committee oversight hearings, and heard testimony from over 35 witnesses. With all of these hearings, critics continued to contend the PATRIOT Act was being abused by authorities, and that Americans’ rights were being violated, by weaving in other unrelated topics like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. I strongly believe in the preservation of our nation’s civil liberties. The Justice Department’s Inspector General, under the original PATRIOT Act, is required to report to Congress twice a year of any abuses of the act. Not a single violation was uncovered. But I wasn’t satisfied, so 30 additional civil liberty safeguards were added to protect against potential misuse. Yet, the fear mongers continued to scare the people.

Up until the final vote in the Senate, I worked with a broad majority of Democrats and Republicans to add safeguards because we all realized this bill is the single most important anti-terrorism legislation enacted since 9/11. In fact, the Justice Department and other agencies have properly utilized the PATRIOT Act to detect, disrupt and dismantle terrorist cells in New York, Virginia and Oregon -- before they could strike. This is a critical tool in America's law enforcement arsenal and a vital deterrent against terrorist subversion. Bottom line: Americans are safer with it than without it.

Armed with the additional safeguards, surely those opposed to the PATRIOT Act would want to enact the reforms as quickly as possible, right? Wrong. The grandstanding opponents chose to play political games and obstruct the bill for months, forcing the original PATRIOT Act, without the new protections, to be renewed temporarily. Twice. The single-minded obsession to procedurally obstruct this bill, despite over 30 new civil liberty safeguards, was categorically rejected by 89 Senators who chose to put our nation’s security first.

It is revealing that almost every liberal stalwart of the Senate rejected the filibuster of the PATRIOT Act. I know Wisconsinites support the PATRIOT Act. Wisconsinites understand that law enforcement, homeland security and intelligence professionals should have the same tools to fight terrorists as they have to fight drug dealers. Let’s not forget the most important right the PATRIOT Act defends: the right of all Americans to live free of fear from the terrorists.

Wisconsin Congressman Sensenbrenner worked tirelessly to ensure that a few opportunistic politicians and fear mongers would quit playing around with the personal safety of Americans, using the PATRIOT Act as their political football.

It's interesting that Sensenbrenner, one of the leading proponents of the PATRIOT Act, and Russ Feingold, without question the Act's leading opponent, both hail from Wisconsin.

The juxtaposition of Sensenbrenner and Feingold reveals that Wisconsin is indeed a battleground state.

The following Senators, all Dems, joined Feingold in his crusade to obstruct the government's effort to fight terrorism:

Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Jim Jeffords (I-VT) -- (Honorary Dem)
Pat Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

(Senator Inouye (D-HI) did not cast a vote.)

Here are Feingold's remarks on the PATRIOT Act reauthorization being signed into law.

"Today marks, sadly, a missed opportunity to protect both the national security needs of this country and the rights and freedoms of its citizens. As the President signs this deeply flawed Patriot Act reauthorization into law, I will redouble my efforts to bring back the safeguards that the entire Senate agreed to last summer and enact the further safeguards contained in the bipartisan SAFE Act. This effort is already underway with Senator Specter’s introduction of a bill based on the amendments I was prohibited from offering during Senate debate on the Patriot Act last week. Over the past four years, we have seen a remarkable national grassroots effort to fix the Patriot Act, and I will continue to support that effort as we work to defeat terrorists while also preserving the freedom and liberty that define us as a nation."

Feingold needs to stop being a lap dog for extremists -- meaning the radical Left, as well as al Qaeda.