Murkowski Proposes Changes to USA Patriot Act to Protect Civil Liberties While Fighting Terrorism

August 1, 2003

MURKOWSKI PROPOSES CHANGES TO USA PATRIOT ACT TO PROTECT CIVIL LIBERTIES WHILE FIGHTING TERRORISM

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in an effort to continue the nation's fight against terrorism while protecting the civil liberties of law-biding Americans, today introduced legislation to give courts more power to regulate federal investigative efforts in the aftermath of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks.

Murkowski today introduced bipartisan legislation to better define the new powers given government agencies by the USA Patriot Act, which was passed by the 107th Congress in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

"Given the tragic events of Sept. 11th there is no question that federal law enforcement agencies needed more tools and that Congress needed to update our nation's anti-terrorism laws. But it is also clear that Congress has an obligation to make sure the law is working as intended. We must strike a careful and constitutional balance between protecting the individual rights of Americans and giving our law enforcement and intelligence officials the tools they need to prevent future terrorist attacks. To date it appears portions of the Patriot Act may have moved the scales out of balance.

"My goal is simply to make sure that our laws are balanced. I want to make sure that law enforcement has all the tools they need to protect us, while also protecting our individual freedoms and liberties - the very same principles upon which the United States was founded and that make this nation so great today," said Murkowski in unveiling a series of clarifications to the USA Patriot Act, clarifications endorsed by a wide spectrum of political groups, from the conservative Americans for Tax Reform to the American Civil Liberties Union.*

"The changes this bill would effectuate are indeed balanced. Nothing in this bill repeals any section of the USA Patriot Act, nor does it contain any provisions that prohibit law enforcement from obtaining the documents and critical information they need to protect our national security and carry out our fight against terrorism. But the legislation will set a higher standard for judicial review so the courts can determine if government-requested surveillance or search orders are warranted. It will guarantee that the courts are not relegated to acting merely as a rubber stamp for government requests. As the third co-equal branch of government the judiciary should have a say in how the information relating to privacy and national security is gathered," said Murkowski.