President urges prompt vote to renew Patriot Act

(10 Dec 2005)
1. Nonetheless of US President George Bush / SOUNDBITE: (English) George W Bush, US President:
“Good morning. This week members of a Home and Senate convention committee reached an settlement on reauthorisation of the Patriot Act. Since its passage after the assaults of September the eleventh, 2001, the Patriot Act has proved important to combating the battle on terror and stopping our enemies from placing America once more. This week’s settlement would renew all 16 provisions of the Patriot Act which are scheduled to run out on the finish of this month – and it might make 14 of those provisions everlasting. It reauthorises crucial nationwide safety instruments, whereas bolstering the Patriot Act’s vital protections of civil liberties. I applaud the convention committee for its good work. Now Congress wants to complete the job. Each the Senate and the Home want to carry a immediate vote, and ship me a invoice renewing the Patriot Act so I can signal it into regulation. Over the previous 4 years, the Patriot Act has been a powerful weapon for going after the terrorists. America’s regulation enforcement and intelligence personnel have put the Patriot Act to smart and efficient use whereas defending our civil liberties. They’ve used the regulation to prosecute terrorist operatives and supporters or break up terror cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia, California, Texas, and Ohio. The Patriot Act has achieved precisely what it was designed to do: it has protected American liberty and saved American lives. The Patriot Act additionally allowed federal investigators to pursue terrorists with the identical instruments they already use in opposition to different criminals. For instance, earlier than the Patriot Act, it was simpler to trace the telephone calls of a drug supplier than the telephone calls of a terrorist. Earlier than the Patriot Act, it was simpler to get the bank card receipts of a tax cheat than these of an al-Qaida bank-roller. The Patriot Act ended these double requirements. So I urge Congress to approve the convention committee settlement promptly and reauthorise the Patriot Act. Thanks for listening.”
STORYLINE:
US President George Bush is urging Congress to vote to resume the Patriot Act – a regulation that he says is important to combating terrorism, however critics say is a risk to particular person liberties.
“Since its passage after the assaults of September the eleventh, 2001, the Patriot Act has proved important to combating the battle on terror and stopping our enemies from placing America once more,” Bush stated on Saturday in his weekly radio handle.
He stated the invoice would renew the Act’s 16 provisions and make 14 of them everlasting.
The US president stated that over the previous 4 years, the nation’s regulation enforcement and intelligence companies had put the Act to good use with out compromising civil liberties.
He stated it had allowed authorities companies to “pursue terrorists with the identical instruments they already use in opposition to different criminals”.
He stated the authorities had used the regulation to prosecute suspects in a number of states across the nation.
Key provisions of the Act cowl the power of regulation enforcement officers to realize entry to a wealth of private information, together with library and medical data, as a part of investigations into suspicious exercise.
Congressional Republican leaders are urgent for the passage of the brand new Patriot Act subsequent week.
However some lawmakers have stated they may do all they will to cease the invoice from passing.
They argue that it doesn’t do sufficient to guard individuals’s particular person freedoms and privateness rights.

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