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U.S. SENATOR PATRICK
LEAHY
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CONTACT: Office of Senator
Leahy, 202-224-4242 |
VERMONT |
Bush Stacks 9-11 Civil Liberties Board;
Senators Call For Panel With Real Independence
[WASHINGTON (Tuesday,
September 21) – In a letter sent to President Bush earlier today, U.S.
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Russell
Feingold (D-Wis.) called for the Administration to support congressional
efforts to create of a bipartisan civil liberties board to ensure that the
government’s use of the powers granted to fight terrorism do not destroy
the very civil liberties America is fighting to protect. The creation of
such a panel -- to provide the vital checks and balances between security
and civil liberties -- was a key recommendation of the 9-11 Commission. In
the letter, Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, along with Kennedy and Feingold, both members of the panel,
strongly objected to the composition of the panel that the Administration
had quietly appointed to carry out this important task. The Bush
Administration’s Board on Safeguarding Americans’ Civil Liberties is
comprised solely of Administration officials from law enforcement and
intelligence communities – the same communities that the board is charged
with overseeing. Leahy, Kennedy and Feingold urged President Bush to look
toward congressional efforts, such as those in the Collins-Lieberman
proposal, a bill that is being considered by the Senate Government Affairs
Committee today. The text of the letter is below.]
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September 21, 2004
The
Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear
President Bush:
We are
writing in response to the recent creation and activities of the
Administration’s Board on Safeguarding Americans’ Civil Liberties.
One of
the key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission was the creation of a civil
liberties board to balance the enormous powers granted by the people to the
government for protection against terrorism. Critically, it concluded:
“We must find ways of reconciling security with liberty, since the success
of one helps protect the other.”
There
is no doubt that such a board is needed given heightened civil liberty
tensions created by the realities of terrorism and modern warfare. The
tools of the information age include precise data-gathering, networked
databases, and tracking and sensing technologies impervious to the common
eye. With such powerful tools comes heightened responsibility.
But the
civil liberties board established by the
August 27, 2004, Executive Order and the manner in which it is proceeding
do little to further the goal of balancing liberty and security. The board
resembles a presidential advisory team, and not an independent, bipartisan
entity. Housed in the Department of Justice, the board will be comprised
solely of Administration officials from the law enforcement and
intelligence communities, precisely the communities that the board will
need to oversee. In essence, this board’s responsibility would be to
oversee itself; it is the proverbial case of the fox guarding the hen
house. Further, the board has no meaningful investigative authority, and
there is no apparent role for Congress.
While
such an entity may help inform the White House of the impact of
Administration policies on civil liberties, it is no substitute for the
sort of civil liberties board that would meet the 9/11 Commission’s call
for an “enhanced system of checks and balances to protect the precious
liberties that are vital to our way of life.” Simply put, the Executive
Order does not establish an entity with the authority, independence and
accountability necessary to protect civil liberties.
Further, the board’s hasty meeting, with no discussion of these matters,
and with no advance notice to the public, is inherently inconsistent with
the very characteristics of openness and accountability necessary to
protect civil liberties. A post-meeting press release is simply not the
kind of open communication that will foster any trust and confidence in
this board’s ability to protect the liberties we hold dear.
It is
important that we have a civil liberties board that can think critically
and independently about the policies we implement as a nation and how they
impact our fundamental rights. Choices about its composition, powers and
accountability should serve that goal and will need to be openly discussed
and carefully weighed. The board must be able to participate in the
policymaking process, review technology choices, peer into various agencies
and assess actions, review classified materials, and investigate concerns.
In particular, the board will need to be sufficiently independent of the
Department of Justice to assess its actions without compromise.
Accountability is essential. We cannot assign a board such significant
responsibilities without periodically reviewing its progress to ensure that
its mandates are being met. Regular reports to Congress and the public
provide such checks.
As the
9/11 Commission noted, when it comes to security and civil liberties, the
“balancing is no easy task, but we must constantly strive to keep it
right.” We agree. We must do this right and we must do it together.
Congress is currently considering various proposals to create an effective
civil liberties board that can achieve these goals, and we hope that the
Administration and its civil liberties advisors will support and cooperate
with Congress in its development.
Sincerely,
Patrick
Leahy
Edward M. Kennedy
United States Senator
United States Senator
Russell
D. Feingold
United States Senator
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