The slate of counter-terrorism laws that comprise the PATRIOT Act and related government actions are a sweeping attack on the important checks and balances on intelligence powers and government law enforcement powers. 

When Congress passed the PATRIOT Act just 45 days after the 9/11 attacks, members knew a safety valve was needed. That’s why the PATRIOT Act was to be reviewed again in 2005. Right now Congressional representatives are debating the fate of the PATRIOT Act.

It's possible to be both safe and free. The Security and Freedom Enhancement Act (SAFE Act) does just that by guarding our constitutional liberties while giving law enforcement the power it needs to protect us from actual threats against our nation.

The SAFE Act represents the best check to the severe threats to individual liberty, privacy and due process posed by the PATRIOT Act by fixing its biggest problems.

- It limits the government’s ability to collect sensitive personal information without a warrant.
- It curtails “sneak and peek” provisions that allow federal authorities to search the homes of Americans without notifying them for weeks or months.
- It adjusts the section of the law allowing the FBI to access an individual’s medical, business, library and other records without having any actual evidence to link that person to terrorism or any other illegal activity.

The bipartisan movement to balance the PATRIOT Act is strong. But there are some in power who would prefer that the act stand untouched. They also want to expand the government’s ability to scrutinize every private aspect of a person’s life.

Why Correct the PATRIOT ACT?

Under the PATRIOT Act (and other administration actions that were taken without congressional involvement), the government can search your home without notifying you, can keep a file on what medications you use, how often you go to church, what churches you attend, and can get a list of the books you have obtained from your library and your local bookstore. The act requires your local librarian and bookseller to keep this hidden from you, even if these activities have nothing to do with the fight against terrorism.
 
We should provide law enforcement with necessary tools to fight terrorism, but the USA PATRIOT Act and related government actions also gave the government many new powers that go beyond the fight against terrorism.  Parts of the USA PATRIOT Act and other government actions take away checks on law enforcement and threaten the very rights and freedoms that we are waging the war on terror to protect.