Bush urged to change parts of Patriot Act

WASHINGTON -- From anti-tax activists to defenders of gun rights, some of President Bush's usual conservative allies declared opposition yesterday to his effort to re-enact the Patriot Act without changes.

"We remain very concerned" that parts of the anti-terrorism law passed in haste after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks "infringe on the rights of law-abiding Americans," the lobbying group "Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances" said in a letter to the president.

Headed by former Rep. Bob Barr, a conservative Georgia Republican, the non-partisan group's membership ranges from the American Civil Liberties Union on the ideological left to Americans For Tax Reform, the American Conservative Union and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms on the right.

In their letter, the group expressed alarm that Bush wants Congress to make temporary provisions of the Patriot Act permanent "without any recognition of the serious reservations many Americans have about secret searches of their homes and their possessions by federal agents, as well as other far-reaching provisions."

In a recent speech to the Justice Department, Bush said the Patriot Act is still needed as is.

"We must not allow the passage of time or the illusion of safety to weaken our resolve in this new war," Bush said. "To protect the American people, Congress must promptly renew all provisions of the Patriot Act this year."

Some parts of the law will expire at the end of 2005 unless Congress votes to extend them. The group urged Bush to reconsider his endorsement of powers in the act that it views as most intrusive and unchecked, including:

Section 213. The so-called "sneak and peek" provision, it allows federal agents to secretly search people's homes and businesses without any deadline on giving notice that the intrusion had taken place.

Section 215. It allows federal agents to collect personal data on American citizens -- such as their medical history, books they check out at the library and goods they buy -- without evidence that the citizen is connected to terrorism.

Section 802. Opponents say it defines "terrorism" too broadly. "Ordinary people trying to exercise their First Amendment rights on issues across the political spectrum might get charged as terrorists" under the law's definition, the group charged.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said he will make renewal of the expiring provisions a high priority.

"Unfortunately, a small but vocal minority has attempted to mischaracterize the Patriot Act," Gonzales recently told an association of county officials. "The critics have dealt in conjecture and hypotheticals. We can point to solid results, saved lives, and a nation that is safer. For more than three years, there has not been one verified civil rights abuse under the Patriot Act."

But leaders of the "Checks and Balances" group charged that the Patriot Act itself threatens some of those constitutional freedoms, such as the Fourth Amendment shield against searches and seizures without a warrant citing probable cause.

"I don't think most Americans realize that the federal government can come into your house" and look around, photograph things, even confiscate your property under the Patriot Act, said Paul Weyrich, chairman of the conservative Free Congress Research and Education Foundation. "And they don't even have to notify you that this has happened."

Parts of the act could also jeopardize the Second Amendment right to gun ownership, said John Snyder, public affairs director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. "When push comes to shove, an ultimate protection against terrorist activity could well be an armed citizenry," he said.