Wes Vernon, NewsMax.com
Friday, Aug. 29, 2003

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, reportedly will soon introduce legislation to expand the USA Patriot Act’s authority to seize records and tap phones. The senator’s office, in response to an inquiry by NewsMax.com, said only that the chairman was looking “at all legislative options.”

Critics on the left and the right who believe the Patriot Act already enables abuse by law enforcement and prosecutors oppose any expansion.

Reports of a “Victory Act” have received a frosty reception from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who believes any expansions are at best premature. The Midwest lawmaker notes that the Patriot Act itself is up for review after five years and that the law is not yet 2 years old.

In an interview with NewsMax, Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said Attorney General John Ashcroft, who recently left on a campaign-style nationwide tour to defend the Patriot Act, was taking no position on the Victory Act until he and others at DOJ have had a chance to review it.

However, the spokesman said the attorney general did believe there was room for adjustments to deal with the war on terrorism.

Ashroft has said there are thousands of violent crimes for which the perpetrator is eligible to receive the death penalty under federal law, whereas several violent terrorist crimes do not provide for capital punishment. To him, that does not make sense.

Second, according to his spokesman, there are provisions for pretrial detention for such offenses as drug trafficking, organized crime and gun-related cases. By contrast, there are many terrorism offenses for which it is more difficult to secure pretrial detention despite the clear danger involved in allowing the person out on the street.

Moreover, earlier this month on “Fox News Sunday,” Ashcroft did endorse one provision of the Victory Act, nicknamed “Patriot Act 2" by its critics. That measure would allow prosecutors to seize records in terrorism cases without a judge’s approval.

Other parts of the as-yet-unintroduced legislation would impose extra penalties for drug dealers with ties to terrorist organizations, and would greatly expand the power to seize records and wiretap suspects in narcoterrorism cases.

Further it would be a crime to carry more than $10,000 in any vehicle where illegal activity is involved. Defendants nabbed for money-laundering could find their assets frozen for 30 days. It would make no difference if those assets were linked to a crime.

There has been a significant increase in the ties between terrorists and drug cartels, the attorney general has said.

All of this indicates a rough fall legislative session on Capitol Hill between those who want to curb the Patriot Act and those who want to expand it.

Lawmakers such as Sen. Grassley would like to put more checks on prosecutorial power. He has written a bill to require an accounting of the number of Americans subjected to surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That law provides for a court that operates in secret.

NewsMax.com will provide you with a front-line view of the battle.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

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