Senate approves USA Act, sends to Bush, Ashcroft vows "new era"

Declan McCullagh declan at well.com
Thu Oct 25 11:31:42 PDT 2001


>Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 14:30:04 -0400
>To: politech at politechbot.com
>From: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
>Subject: Senate approves USA Act, sends to Bush, Ashcroft vows "new era"
>
>The Senate just approved the USA Act by a 98-1 vote. Sen. Feingold was the 
>lone dissenter. Since the House has already voted for the bill, now it 
>goes to President Bush for his signature. Attorney General Ashcroft has 
>said that Bush will sign it tomorrow.
>
>Ashcroft said today, according to a speech attached below:
>>The hour that it becomes law, I will issue guidance to each of our 94 
>>U.S. Attorney's Offices and 56 FBI field offices directing them to begin 
>>immediately implementing this sweeping legislation.  I will issue 
>>directives requiring law enforcement to make use of new powers in 
>>intelligence gathering, criminal procedure and immigration violations.  A 
>>new era in America's fight against terrorism, made tragically necessary 
>>by the attacks of September 11, is about to begin.
>
>Text of USA Act v3.0 (final):
>http://www.politechbot.com/docs/usa.act.final.102401.html
>House debate over USA Act:
>http://www.politechbot.com/docs/usa.act.debate.102401.html
>How your House member voted:
>http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2001&rollnumber=398
>Feingold's lonely privacy fight:
>http://www.politechbot.com/p-02645.html
>Background:
>http://www.politechbot.com/p-02707.html
>http://www.wartimeliberty.com/search.pl?topic=legislation
>President Bush's statement that he looks forward to signing the bill:
>http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011024-4.html
>
>-Declan
>
>*********
>
>Attorney General John Ashcroft
>Prepared Remarks for the US Mayors Conference
>October 25, 2001
>
>         For more than two hundred years, Attorneys General have called on 
> the men and women of justice to be faithful stewards of the law.  Rarely 
> in history has an Attorney General asked  America's prosecutors and law 
> enforcement officers to do what they are asked to do today:  to be both 
> defenders of justice and defenders of the people; to devote their talents 
> and energies to the urgent task of saving lives ahead of losing cases.
>
>         On September 11, the wheel of history turned and the world will 
> never be the same.  A turning point was reached, as well, in the 
> administration of justice.  The fight against terrorism is now the first 
> and overriding priority of the Department of Justice.  But our war 
> against terrorism is not merely or primarily a criminal justice endeavor 
> __ our battle is the defense of our nation and its citizens.
>
>         The men and women of justice and law enforcement are called on to 
> combat a terrorist threat that is both immediate and vast; a threat that 
> resides here, at home, but whose supporters, patrons and sympathizers 
> form a multinational network of evil.
>
>         The attacks of September 11 were acts of terrorism against 
> America orchestrated and carried out by individuals living within our 
> borders.  Today's terrorists enjoy the benefits of our free society even 
> as they commit themselves to our destruction.  They live in our 
> communities __ plotting, planning and waiting to kill Americans 
> again.  They have crossed the Rubicon of terror with the use of 
> biological agents.  We cannot explicitly link the recent terrorist 
> attacks to the September 11 hijackers. Yet, terrorists - people who were 
> either involved with, associated with or are seeking to take advantage of 
> the September 11 attacks - are now poisoning our communities with Anthrax.
>
>         Forty years ago, another Attorney General was confronted with a 
> different enemy within our borders.  Robert F. Kennedy came to the 
> Department of Justice at a time when organized crime was threatening the 
> very foundations of the republic. Mobsters controlled one of the nation's 
> largest labor unions.  Racketeers murdered, bribed and extorted with 
> impunity in many of the nation's largest cities.
>
>         Then, as now, the enemy that America faced was described bluntly 
> - and correctly - as a conspiracy of evil.  Then, as now, the enemy was 
> well_financed, expertly organized and international in scope.  Then, as 
> now, its operations were hidden under a code of deadly silence.
>
>         As Attorney General, Robert Kennedy launched an extraordinary 
> campaign against organized crime.  Under his leadership, the mission and 
> momentum of the Department of Justice were directed toward one 
> overarching goal:  to identify, disrupt and dismantle the organized_crime 
> enemy within.  A new spirit of cooperation was forged, both among federal 
> agencies and between state and federal law enforcement.   Prosecutors 
> were action oriented - pursuing cases rather than waiting for the cases 
> to come to them.  Investigators focused on function, not form - they 
> focused on doing what was necessary to get the job done rather than what 
> was dictated by the organizational chart.
>
>         Attorney General Kennedy made no apologies for using all of the 
> available resources in the law to disrupt and dismantle organized crime 
> networks.  Very often, prosecutors were aggressive, using obscure 
> statutes to arrest and detain suspected mobsters.  One racketeer and his 
> father were indicted for lying on a federal home loan application.  A 
> former gunman for the Capone mob was brought to court on a violation of 
> the Migratory Bird Act.  Agents found 563 game birds in his freezer __ a 
> mere 539 birds over the limit.
>
>         There are obvious differences, of course, between the network of 
> organized crime America faced in 1961 and the network of terror we face 
> today.  Today, many more innocent lives have been lost.  Many more 
> innocent lives continue to be threatened.  But these differences serve 
> only to call us more urgently to action.
>
>         The American people face a serious, immediate and ongoing threat 
> from terrorism.  At this moment, American service men and women are 
> risking their lives to battle the enemy overseas.  It falls to the men 
> and women of justice and law enforcement to engage terrorism at 
> home.  History's judgment will be harsh - and the people's judgment will 
> be sure - if we fail to use every available resource to prevent future 
> terrorist attacks.
>
>         Robert Kennedy's Justice Department, it is said, would arrest 
> mobsters for "spitting on the sidewalk" if it would help in the battle 
> against organized crime.  It has been and will be the policy of this 
> Department of Justice to use the same aggressive arrest and detention 
> tactics in the war on terror.
>
>         Let the terrorists among us be warned:  If you overstay your visa 
> - even by one day - we will arrest you.  If you violate a local law, you 
> will be put in jail and kept in custody as long as possible.  We will use 
> every available statute.  We will seek every prosecutorial advantage.  We 
> will use all our weapons within the law and under the Constitution to 
> protect life and enhance security for America.
>
>         In the war on terror, this Department of Justice will arrest and 
> detain any suspected terrorist who has violated the law.  Our single 
> objective is to prevent terrorist attacks by taking suspected terrorists 
> off the street.  If suspects are found not to have links to terrorism or 
> not to have violated the law, they are released.  But terrorists who are 
> in violation of the law will be convicted, in some cases deported, and in 
> all cases prevented from doing further harm to Americans.
>
>         Within days of the September 11 attacks, we launched this 
> anti_terrorism offensive to prevent new attacks on our homeland.  To 
> date, our anti_terrorism offensive has arrested or detained nearly 1,000 
> individuals as part of the September 11 terrorism investigation.  Those 
> who violated the law remain in custody.  Taking suspected terrorists in 
> violation of the law off the streets and keeping them locked up is our 
> clear strategy to prevent terrorism within our borders.
>
>         Today, the Department of Justice is positioned to launch a new 
> offensive against terrorism.   Due to extraordinary bi_partisan and 
> bi_cameral cooperation in the Congress, law enforcement will have new 
> weapons in the war on terrorism.  Yesterday, by an overwhelming margin, 
> the House passed the Anti_terrorism Act of 2001.  Hours from now, the 
> Senate is poised to follow suit.
>
>         The president is expected to sign this legislation on 
> Friday.  The hour that it becomes law, I will issue guidance to each of 
> our 94 U.S. Attorney's Offices and 56 FBI field offices directing them to 
> begin immediately implementing this sweeping legislation.  I will issue 
> directives requiring law enforcement to make use of new powers in 
> intelligence gathering, criminal procedure and immigration violations.  A 
> new era in America's fight against terrorism, made tragically necessary 
> by the attacks of September 11, is about to begin.
>
>         The legislation embodies two over_arching principles:
>
>         The first principle is airtight surveillance of terrorists.
>
>         Upon the president's signature,  I will direct investigators and 
> prosecutors to begin immediately seeking court orders to intercept 
> communications related to an expanded list of crimes under the 
> legislation.  Communications regarding terrorist offenses such as the use 
> of biological or chemical agents, financing acts of terrorism or 
> materially supporting terrorism will be subject to interception by law 
> enforcement.
>         Agents will be directed to take advantage of new, technologically 
> neutral standards for intelligence gathering.  So_called "roving" 
> wiretaps, that allow taps of multiple phones a suspect may use, are being 
> added as important as an important weapon in our war against terror.
>
>         Investigators will be directed to pursue aggressively terrorists 
> on the internet.   New authority in the legislation permits the use of 
> devices that capture senders and receivers addresses associated with 
> communications on the internet.
>
>         Law enforcement will begin immediately to seek search warrants to 
> obtain unopened voice_mail stored on a computer __ just as they 
> traditionally have used search warrants to obtain unopened email.  They 
> will also begin to use new subpoena power to obtain payment information 
> such as credit card or bank account numbers of suspected terrorists on 
> the internet.
>
>         The second principle enshrined in the legislation is speed in 
> tracking down and intercepting terrorists. As soon as possible, law 
> enforcement will begin to employ new tools that ease administrative 
> burdens and delays in apprehending terrorists.
>
>         Investigators are now able to use a single court order to trace a 
> communication even when it travels outside the judicial district in which 
> the order was issued.  The scope of search warrants for unopened e_mail 
> and other evidence is now also nationwide.
>
>
>         The new tools for law enforcement in the war against terrorism 
> are the products of hundreds of hours of consultation and careful 
> consideration by the administration, members of Congress, and state and 
> local officials.  They are careful, balanced, and long overdue 
> improvements in our capacity to prevent terrorism.
>
>         The federal government cannot fight this reign of terror 
> alone.  Every American must help us defend our nation against this 
> enemy.  Every state, every county, every municipality must join together 
> to form a common defense against terrorism.
>         The law enforcement campaign that will commence in earnest when 
> the legislation is signed into law will be many years in duration.  Some 
> will ask whether a civilized nation - a nation of law and not of men - 
> can use the law to defend itself from barbarians and remain 
> civilized.  Our answer, unequivocally, is "yes."  Yes, we will defend 
> civilization.  And yes, we will preserve the rule of law because it makes 
> us civilized.
>
>         The men and women of justice and law enforcement have been asked 
> to shoulder a great burden for the safety and security of the American 
> people.  We will, as we have in the past, never waiver in our faith and 
> loyalty to the Constitution and never tire in our defense of the rights 
> it enshrines.
>
>         Years after he left the office of Attorney General, an observer 
> of Robert Kennedy wrote that RFK brought these assets to his successful 
> campaign against organized crime:
>         *A constructive anger.
>*An intimate knowledge of his subject.
>*A talented team of prosecutors.
>*And, finally, a partner in the White House.
>
>         Today, as we embark on this campaign against terrorism, we are 
> blessed with a similar set of advantages.  Our anger, too, is 
> constructive.  Our knowledge is growing.  Our team is talented.  And our 
> leadership in the White House is unparalleled.
>
>         George W. Bush has done more __ much more __ than declare war on 
> terrorism. George W. Bush is fighting a war on terrorism.  Under his 
> leadership, we have pledged ourselves to victory.
>
>         Terrorists live in the shadows, under the cover of darkness.  We 
> will shine the light of justice on them.  Americans alive today and yet 
> to be born and freedom_loving people everywhere will have new reason to 
> hope because our enemies now have new reason to fear.
>
>         Thank you.
>
>###





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