Author: Patricia Wilson
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: October 28, 2001
Introduction: Govt gets sweeping
powers to detain immigrants, tap phones & E-mail
President George W Bush signed new
anti-terror laws on Friday, aggressively expanding the US government's
power to detain immigrants, eavesdrop on electronic communications and
crack money laundering schemes. 'Today, we take an essential step in defeating
terrorism while protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans,'
Mr Bush said at the White House. 'This government will enforce this law
with all the urgency of a nation at war.' Attorney general John Ashcroft
directed all 94 US attorneys' offices and 56 FBI field offices to begin
implementing the new laws immediately.
The USA Patriot Act of 2001 was
proposed five days after the attacks on New York and Washington. The final
version was approved by the senate on Thursday, 24 hours after it cleared
the House of Representatives.
Major legislation traditionally
takes several months if not years to be approved. This one streaked through
Congress in less than six weeks at the urging of the Bush administration,
but critics say it poses a threat to civil liberties.
'We cannot as a nation allow very
legitimate public anxiety to immunise the administration and Congress from
their obligation to protect the Bill of Rights and the fundamental values
that document embodies,' said Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil
Liberties Union national office.
But Mr Bush declared: 'One thing
is for certain: These terrorists must be pursued. They must be defeated.
They must be brought to justice. That is the purpose of this legislation.'
The new law will:
* Make it a crime to knowingly harbor
a terrorist.
* Allow the attorney general to
hold foreigners suspected to be terrorists for up to seven days before
charging them or beginning deportation proceedings.
* Let federal authorities obtain
court orders for tapping any phone a suspected foreign terrorist might
use.
* Make it easier for investigators
and intelligence officers to share information.
* Give the US treasury department
new powers to target foreign nations and banks deemed money-laundering
threats.
* Permit law enforcement to obtain
a subpoena to get from internet providers records about the e-mail transmissions
of suspected terrorists.
The bill was a bipartisan compromise.
It denied the Bush administration the right to detain indefinitely immigrants
suspected of involvement in terrorism. As a built-in safeguard against
future abuses of the war-time law, the authority for expanded surveillance
of computers and telephones will expire after four years unless renewed
by Congress. - Reuters
