Why We NEED the Patriot Act

In my opinion, the Patriot Act is the single most important piece of legislation passed since September 11th. Without it, our hands were tied, but since, we have been able to thwart numerous terror attacks and arrest dozens of terrorists, which before 9/11 was impossible. Rep. James Sensenbrenner wrote an article in the USATODAY making a strong case for the renewel of the Patriot Act. Here are his reasons:

So what has the Patriot Act done? It has been a tremendous asset in helping thwart other terrorist attacks. The Justice Department and other agencies have properly utilized these new tools to detect, disrupt, and dismantle terrorist cells in New York, Virginia and Oregon before they strike. Since 9/11, the Justice Department has charged hundreds of defendents, of whom more than half have been convicted or pleaded guilty, as a results of terrorism-related investigations.

Most important, this renewal would permanently tear down the pre-9/11 "wall" that prevented theFBI and CIA from communicating. This law recognizes the vital importance of sharing information to "connect the dots." The Patriot Act has made it much more difficult for America's enemies to live openly among us as the plot to murder innocent Americans.

His ending is very good:

We must never forget we are a nation at war with an enemy determined to extinguish our nation, our values and our civil liberties. The Patriot Act has kept us safer and has not violated anyone's civil rights. It deserves to be renewed.

Rep. Sensenbrenner is exactly right in his analysis. The Patriot Act is a tool we need in our arsenal to defeat the attempts of terrorists to attack our country and kill innocent Americans. We still face the same threat we did in the weeks after 9/11 when this bill was passed almost unanimously. Although Al-Qaeda has been weakened significantly because of the war on terror, they still want to hit us, and without the Patriot Act they will. I dont know how any lawmaker who voted for this in 2001 can vote against it now except for strickly political reasons. And any elected official who is willing to put politics infront of our security on their list of priorities does not even deserve to live in this country, let alone make the laws we live by. When the renewel comes to a vote, I will post every lawmaker who votes against it so you all can see the list of people who are willing to hide behind the BS excuse of protecting civil liberties rather than doing their solumn duty to protect every single American citizen from the wrath of terrorism.

We must renew the Patriot Act.

-Brad