By Steve Lilienthal

Steve Lilienthal is a policy analyst at the Free Congress Foundation.
July 4, 2003

Today, July 4th, the National Constitution Center will open. It is hailed as the first museum in the world that explains the document that not only contains the governing principles for our own country and the guarantees of liberty for American citizens, but that has also served as a model for the constitutions of scores of other countries too. Appropriately enough, the National Constitution Center is located in Philadelphia, where the Constitution was written and signed by the delegates to the constitutional convention nearly 216 years ago.

Even today, Philadelphia not only recalls its past as the birthplace of the Constitution, but it recognized the continuing relevance of Constitutional principles when the city council passed a resolution in late May condemning the USA PATRIOT Act for violating fundamental rights and liberties.

The groups that spearheaded the effort were primarily on the left including local chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Organization for Women.

Unfortunately, not enough conservatives have given thought to the serious threat to basic civil liberties that is posed by the USA PATRIOT Act. Otherwise, more conservatives would realize that they too have a vested interest in calling for significant revisions to the Act.

Paul M. Weyrich, Free Congress Foundation Chairman and CEO, has emphasized that the problem with the USA PATRIOT Act is not likely to be what the Bush Administration will do with its powers, but what will be done when future administrations come to power. After all, the USA PATRIOT Act seeks to centralize more power with the Federal government, even handing its law enforcement agencies great power to crack down on political dissent. Who dissents against centralized governmental power? Conservatives, who adhere to the philosophy that recognizes the desirability of a federal government with limited power.

The House and Senate passed the USA PATRIOT Act so swiftly that many congressmen and senators had not read the bill nor had a full understanding of its measures. But the more conservatives know about the USA PATRIOT Act, the less they should like it.

One measure of the Act is called "sneak and peek" which permits searches to be conducted without informing the subject in advance that it will be taking place. This measure upends the Fourth Amendment.

"Domestic terrorism" is also part of the USA PATRIOT Act and that means even groups such as Operation Rescue and other aggressive advocacy groups could find themselves to be targeted by a federal dragnet.

The federal government is granted very broad powers to conduct surveillance of phone calls and internet usage and to obtain sensitive personal data including financial and medical records.

Too many Americans are looking at the short-term, thinking measures like the ones above will only be used for snaring terrorists. However, a measure like "sneak and peek" has no sunset clause, meaning that there is no natural expiration date. The applicability of the USA PATRIOT Act in targeting groups defined as engaging in domestic terrorism also leaves conservative political activists at risk too, particularly if there is vigorous conservative criticism of a liberal administration with someone like Hillary Rodham Clinton at the helm.

A hallmark of the Free Congress Foundation has been its willingness to work in coalition with those organizations who are not natural allies of conservatives, but share common concern about a particular issue. For instance, there are many issues on which the Foundation and consumer activist Ralph Nader find themselves to be completely and unalterably in opposition. Yet, both Paul Weyrich and Nader have worked together to challenge unwarranted and excessive congressional pay raises.

The American Civil Liberties Union has promoted a model resolution for local communities and the states to register dissatisfaction with the USA PATRIOT Act and to ensure strong accountability in its enforcement. While ACLU and the Free Congress Foundation part company on most issues, we share a common concern about the USA PATRIOT Act. Given the conservative belief that stronger efforts are needed to secure our borders and that illegal immigrants are breaking the law, conservatives, particularly those in small towns and rural areas, may not want to spearhead efforts to promote verbatim the model version written by the ACLU. Fortunately, the ACLU grants flexibility to the grassroots activists to modify the draft to one that best suits their needs and concerns.

The ACLU says over 130 communities have passed resolutions emphasizing the need to protect civil liberties. Among the communities that have done so is the relatively conservative city of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Alaska's state legislature has also done so. A National Rifle Association member joined forces with a member of the NAACP to co-sponsor a resolution in Anchorage.

Conservatives need to start speaking out now against those provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that can put our civil liberties at risk and to urge local government to be aggressive in protecting against intrusions of their privacy by the Federal government and its expanded surveillance powers. Intelligence and federal law enforcement agencies already had plenty of power before 9/11. The question worth asking is how effectively were they in using that power in the first place? They evidently were not very effective, according to the revelations that came out about their failure to heed warnings from the field issued about the 9/11 terrorists that were made right before the attack. Given that, why should our civil liberties be put at risk?

It is time that more conservatives start following the lead of their brethren in our most northernmost state. Persuading your local community and your state's legislature to pass a resolution urging that the current version of the USA PATRIOT Act be replaced by one that truly respects our constitutional liberties is something that conservatives should do now.

The worst thing that could happen is to have conservatives wake up some day only to realize that it is too late to speak out about the far-reaching impact of USA PATRIOT Act.