Cato Daily Dispatch for September 20, 2001
Justice Presents Security Proposal To CongressJustice Presents Security Proposal To Congress
Appealing for urgent action in the face of an undiminished terrorist threat, the Bush administration yesterday presented Congress with its proposed anti-terrorism package, according to The Washington Post.
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft met with key Democrats and Republicans at the Capitol yesterday afternoon to discuss the measures, which would greatly enhance the government's ability to conduct domestic surveillance and keep suspected terrorists from entering the country.
After the meeting, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said the proposals had been well received and promised to work through the weekend with the aim of producing a mutually acceptable bill by the time his panel holds hearings on the matter next Tuesday.
Leahy cautioned, however, that Congress would not rubber-stamp the anti-terrorism proposals, which have already sparked concern among civil liberties groups and others who fear the measures outlined in Ashcroft's 21-page document would undermine the Constitution, especially with regard to immigrants' rights.
"If the Constitution is shredded, the terrorists win," Leahy told reporters after the meeting. "We want to do this carefully."
"We need to be very careful about rushing to give up some of our liberties in exchange for security," writes Senior Defense Policy Analyst Charles V. Peña in "What Price Security?" "If the price of security is fundamentally altering the principles of freedom and liberty we believe in, then the terrorists will have done more than just destroy buildings and kill innocent Americans."