Taxpayers Say Ashcroft KO'd on Patriot Act

www.virginianewssource.com ^ | 7/24.03 | Virginia Taxpayers Association

[Warhorse]

VIRGINIA TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION

P. O. BOX 663

LYNCHBURG, VA 24505

- 30 years in the cause of freedom -

FROM: Kenneth White, President

(Residence) 93 Shields Gap Rd.

Roseland, VA 22967

Tel./FAX No.: 434 277-5255

E-mail: KWhite9472@aol.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7/23/03

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TAXPAYERS SAY

ASHCROFT KO'd

ON PATRIOT ACT

The Virginia Taxpayers Association said today "the stunning 309-118 House vote Tuesday passing an appropriations amendment stripping the USA Patriot Act of one of its most tyrannical provisions was a sharp rebuke to Attorney General John Ashcroft."

The House voted to strike a section of the act allowing government agents to secretly search homes of suspects and only inform them later that a warrant had been issued to do so.

Ashcroft had defended the sweeping anti-terrorist act Monday, saying that criticisms of it were based on exaggerations and falsehoods.

"The fact that Ashcroft has consistently backed this unconstitutional act proves that he and the Bush administration have been using the 9/11 World Trade Center disasters to bring in a national police state," the VTA charged.

More than 100 local governments and two states, Alaska and Hawaii, had passed resolutions opposing enforcement of the Patriot Act.

"Tuesday's House vote was a tremendous victory for grassroots citizens, especially since all eight Virginia Republican congress members had voted wrong for passage of the original Patriot Act," the VTA said. "This time Reps. Jo Ann Davis (R-1st), Tom Davis (R-11th), Randy Forbes (R-4th) and Ed Schrock (R-2nd) corrected their earlier vote by voting for the amendment, along with Reps. Rick Boucher (D-9th), Jim Moran (D-8th) and Bobby Scott (D-3rd)."

The amendment to a 37.9 billion bill funding the departments of Commerce, State and Justice was sponsored by Rep. C. L. "Butch" Otter, a conservative Idaho Republican, and also backed by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), the House's leading opponent of the Patriot Act. When the act was passed in October, 2001, many House members complained they had not had time to read it.

Civil liberties advocates from both ends of the political spectrum speculate that because of the impressive amendment vote, there could be more "fix-Patriot" measures to come.

(END)

[af_vet_rr]

309-118, was somebody actually listening to the people who put them in office??

[Warhorse]

I think we need to remember that when the outrage of the grassroots reaches a certain point, even the usual politician in office cannot ignore it. And since this is a war for the mind, when we have a success like this we need to trumpet it to the housetops!

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

Thank God. Now it's time to start rolling anti-freedom legislation back.

[af_vet_rr]

I think we need to remember that when the outrage of the grassroots reaches a certain point, even the usual politician in office cannot ignore it. And since this is a war for the mind, when we have a success like this we need to trumpet it to the housetops!

Agreed, this was very important, and it shows that the politicians were actually listening for once. Successes like this need to get more attention.