Stop the Patriot Act Expansion

The Senate Intelligence Committee has voted to expand the Patriot Act to give the Justice Department and the FBI more powers to secretly acquire secret information about American citizens without any judicial review in advance, and without the knowledge of those being investigated.

This is a clear violation of the Constitution and against the wishes of the people and of many state and local governments. But Congress appears set to do it anyway.

Combine this measure with the REAL ID Act, and the act requiring Americans to inform on their friends, family, and neighbors, and it’s easy to see the direction we’re heading. All of the foundation stones are being put in place for a police state. This is surely no one’s intention, but it would be naive to believe these powers won’t be exploited by someone for bad purposes in the future.

And just imagine what will happen if the government once again fails to protect us from terrorism, despite all the money they’ve taken from us to defend us, and the vast new powers they’ve assumed to themselves. Historically, governments always exploit crisis (much of which they create through their polices) to gain more power over the people.

The time to stop this trend is now. Please send a message to Congress asking them to oppose expansion of the Patriot Act.

Sign here or write your letter directly to your senators and state representative.