Why the lack of debate?

Both Patriot Act I and II were brought down under cover of big press stories. An examination of these laws, now that they are actually printed, is chilling.

by Kevin Potvin <kpotvin@republic-news.org>

At precisely 7 PM on the evening of October 17, 2001, the buildings housing the US Senate and Congress, and all offices of all Senators and Congress members, were completely vacated, closed, and sealed like a crime scene. The reason? Deadly anthrax had been discovered in letters mailed to Senate minority leader Tom Daschle-equivalent to Leader of the Opposition in Canada-and other prominent political leaders in the US capital.

The vast complex of Washington buildings containing the entirety of the US legislative system remained closed for nine days. On October 23, a Tuesday, some buildings reopened, after investigators were satisfied no more anthrax existed, while others remained closed until Friday the 26 th , and a few remained closed into November.

Members of the Senate and Congress and their staff were asked in a memo circulated earlier on October 17 to make sure to create back-ups on discs of all computer hard drives before leaving. What business anthrax decontamination personnel would have on the computer hard drives of members of the Senate and Congress was not explained.

However, on that Friday, October 26, with portions of the legislative complex still closed and staff and members only earlier that day allowed back into their offices and chambers, and the nation generally still reeling from the significance of the mysterious anthrax attacks, and only a month-and-a-half since the devastation of September 11, the Senate and Congress were presented with, and immediately voted on, a huge body of historically unprecedented legislation known as the USA Patriot Act.

It passed through both Houses the same day it was introduced. The Senate passed the bill by a majority of 98 to 1. Not one of the Senators or Congress members read the bill before voting on it. The Patriot Act had not been made available by the government printer until days later, because it hadn't yet been printed the day it was voted on.

Since that extraordinary autumn, investigators have revealed that the source of the anthrax had to have been a US government employee working somewhere in a secret (because illegal) government-run anthrax laboratory. There has been virtually no new information from any further investigation into the anthrax attacks, and no indication there is even any on-going investigations today.

Now, the USA Patriot Act II, as it's become known, has vastly expanded on the powers accorded the US Attorney General in the original Patriot Act. It was signed into law by President George Bush on December 13 last year, a Saturday. The only other Saturday on which Bush signed legislation was to forward an emergency spending bill that avoided the entire US government shutting down the following Monday morning. Saturday, December 13 was an unusual day for another reason: deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had been captured that day. While the entire world press was obsessed with images of a lice check on Hussein's head, the passing of Patriot Act II into law went nearly entirely unnoticed.

If the two pieces of major legislation are such necessary safeguards for the security of American citizens, why is it in both cases serious attempts were made to avoid any public examination and debate about the bills?

The original Patriot Act, amongst a large range of new and far-reaching legislation, most prominently gave the power to the US Attorney General to seize any non-American on US soil and either incarcerate the person or deport them to anywhere, without any warrants or even any stated reasons. Anyone so grabbed no longer is guaranteed access to a lawyer. No information even about the seizure having occurred, or what has happened to the seized person, needs to be released by the Attorney General to anyone.

In addition to expanding on powers to investigate without warrants, Patriot Act II extends the US Attorney General's powers over US citizens, instead of just non-Americans. Where Patriot Act I allowed investigators to seize without notification anyone's banking records, Patriot Act II changed the definition of financial records to include all credit card transactions, gas card purchases, and even movie rental records. Among the more chilling provisions in the Act is the one allowing the government to put the grab on anyone, in secret and without providing counsel or any outside contact, who is deemed to have expressed support for terrorists, regardless of not being a terrorist, or having absolutely no connection to terrorists or any terrorist group in any way.

This would include anyone, American or otherwise, who might have published an article thinking aloud, as it were, about the possible validity of terrorists and their attacks. Supporters of the current US administration may struggle to explain the necessity for that provision, and to account for the hasty and un-debated manner in which it was enshrined in law. Opponents might not wish to engage in such a debate, given the potential consequences.

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