Patriot Act Two
by Alex Jones
A Brief Analysis of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003 (also known as the USA Patriot Act II)
Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) told the Washington
Times that no member of Congress was allowed to read the first Patriot Act that
was passed by the House on October 27, 2001. The first Patriot Act was
universally decried by civil libertarians and Constitutional scholars from
across the political spectrum.
William Safire, while writing for the New York Times, described the first Patriot Act's powers by saying that President Bush was "seizing dictatorial control." On February 7, 2003 the Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan public interest think-tank in DC, revealed the full text of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003.
The classified document
had been leaked to them by an unnamed source inside the Federal government. The
document consisted of a 33-page section by section analysis of the accompanying
87-page bill.
The bill itself is stamped "Confidential - Not for Distribution." Upon reading
the analysis and bill, I was stunned by the scientifically crafted tyranny
contained in the legislation. The Justice Department Office of Legislative
Affairs admits that they had indeed covertly transmitted a copy of the
legislation to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, (R-Il) and the Vice
President of the United States, Dick Cheney as well as the executive heads of
federal law enforcement agencies.
It is important to note that no member of Congress was allowed to see the first
Patriot Act before its passage, and that no debate was tolerate by the House and
Senate leadership. The intentions of the White House and Speaker Hastert
concerning Patriot Act II appear to be a carbon copy replay of the events that
led to the unprecedented passage of the first Patriot Act.
There are two glaring areas that need to be looked at concerning this new
legislation:
1. The secretive tactics being used
by the White House and Speaker Hastert to keep even the existence of this
legislation secret would be more at home in Communist China than in the United
States. The fact that Dick Cheney publicly managed the steamroller passage of
the first Patriot Act, ensuring that no one was allowed to read it and publicly
threatening members of Congress that if they didn't vote in favor of it that
they would be blamed for the next terrorist attack, is by the White House's own
definition terrorism. The move to clandestinely craft and then bully passage of
any legislation by the Executive Branch is clearly an impeachable offense.
2. The second Patriot Act is a mirror image of powers that Julius Caesar and
Adolf Hitler gave themselves. Whereas the First Patriot Act only gutted the
First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and seriously damaged the Seventh and
the Tenth, the Second Patriot Act reorganizes the entire Federal government as
well as many areas of state government under the dictatorial control of the
Justice Department, the Office of Homeland Security and the FEMA NORTHCOM
military command. The Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003, also known as the
Second Patriot Act is by its very structure the definition of dictatorship.
I challenge all Americans to study the new Patriot Act and to compare it to the
Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Ninety percent of
the act has nothing to do with terrorism and is instead a giant Federal
power-grab with tentacles reaching into every facet of our society. It strips
American citizens of all of their rights and grants the government and its
private agents total immunity. Here is a quick thumbnail sketch of just some of
the draconian measures encapsulated within this tyrannical legislation:
SECTION 501 (Expatriation of
Terrorists) expands the Bush administration's "enemy combatant" definition to
all American citizens who "may" have violated any provision of Section 802 of
the first Patriot Act. (Section 802 is the new definition of domestic terrorism,
and the definition is "any action that endangers human life that is a violation
of any Federal or State law.") Section 501 of the second Patriot Act directly
connects to Section 125 of the same act. The Justice Department boldly claims
that the incredibly broad Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act isn't broad
enough and that a new, unlimited definition of terrorism is needed.
Under Section 501 a US citizen engaging in lawful activities can be grabbed off
the street and thrown into a van never to be seen again. The Justice Department
states that they can do this because the person "had inferred from conduct" that
they were not a US citizen. Remember Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act
states that any violation of Federal or State law can result in the "enemy
combatant" terrorist designation.
SECTION 201 of the second Patriot Act makes it a criminal act for any member of
the government or any citizen to release any information concerning the
incarceration or whereabouts of detainees. It also states that law enforcement
does not even have to tell the press who they have arrested and they never have
to release the names.
SECTION 301 and 306 (Terrorist Identification Database) set up a national
database of "suspected terrorists" and radically expand the database to include
anyone associated with suspected terrorist groups and anyone involved in crimes
or having supported any group designated as "terrorist." These sections also set
up a national DNA database for anyone on probation or who has been on probation
for any crime, and orders State governments to collect the DNA for the Federal
government.
SECTION 312 gives immunity to law enforcement engaging in spying operations against the American people and would place substantial restrictions on court injunctions against Federal violations of civil rights across the board.
SECTION 101 will designate individual terrorists as foreign powers and again strip them of all rights under the "enemy combatant" designation.
SECTION 102 states clearly that any information gathering, regardless of whether or not those activities are illegal, can be considered to be clandestine intelligence activities for a foreign power. This makes news gathering illegal.
SECTION 103 allows the Federal government to use wartime martial law powers domestically and internationally without Congress declaring that a state of war exists.
SECTION 106 is bone-chilling in its straightforwardness. It states that broad general warrants by the secret FSIA court (a panel of secret judges set up in a star chamber system that convenes in an undisclosed location) granted under the first Patriot Act are not good enough. It states that government agents must be given immunity for carrying out searches with no prior court approval. This section throws out the entire Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures.
SECTION 109 allows secret star chamber courts to issue contempt charges against any individual or corporation who refuses to incriminate themselves or others. This sections annihilate the last vestiges of the Fifth Amendment.
SECTION 110 restates that key police state clauses in the first Patriot Act were not sunsetted and removes the five year sunset clause from other subsections of the first Patriot Act. After all, the media has told us: "This is the New America. Get used to it. This is forever."
SECTION 111 expands the definition of the "enemy combatant" designation.
SECTION 122 restates the government's newly announced power of "surveillance without a court order."
SECTION 123 restates that the government no longer needs warrants and that the investigations can be a giant dragnet-style sweep described in press reports about the Total Information Awareness Network. One passage reads, "thus the focus of domestic surveillance may be less precise than that directed against more conventional types of crime."
*Note: Over and over again, in subsection after subsection, the second Patriot Act states that its new Soviet-type powers will be used to fight international terrorism, domestic terrorism and other types of crimes. Of course the government has already announced in Section 802 of the first USA Patriot act that any crime is considered domestic terrorism.
SECTION 126 grants the government the right to mine the entire spectrum of public and private sector information from bank records to educational and medical records. This is the enacting law to allow ECHELON and the Total Information Awareness Network to break down any and all walls of privacy. The government states that they must look at everything to "determine" if individuals or groups might have a connection to terrorist groups. As you can now see, you are guilty until proven innocent.
SECTION 127 allows the government to takeover coroners' and medical examiners' operations whenever they see fit. See how this is like Bill Clinton's special medical examiner he had in Arkansas that ruled that people had committed suicide when their arms and legs had been cut off.
SECTION 128 allows the Federal government to place gag orders on Federal and State Grand Juries and to take over the proceedings. It also disallows individuals or organizations to even try to quash a Federal subpoena. So now defending yourself will be a terrorist action.
SECTION 129 destroys any remaining whistle blower protection for Federal agents.
SECTION 202 allows corporations to keep secret their activities with toxic biological, chemical or radiological materials.
SECTION 205 allows top Federal officials to keep all their financial dealings secret, and anyone investigating them can be considered a terrorist. This should be very useful for Dick Cheney to stop anyone investigating Haliburton.
SECTION 303 sets up national DNA database of suspected terrorists. The database will also be used to "stop other unlawful activities." It will share the information with state, local and foreign agencies for the same purposes.
SECTION 311 federalizes your local police department in the area of information sharing.
SECTION 313 provides liability protection for businesses, especially big businesses that spy on their customers for Homeland Security, violating their privacy agreements. It goes on to say that these are all preventative measures - has anyone seen Minority Report? This is the access hub for the Total Information Awareness Network.
SECTION 321 authorizes foreign governments to spy on the American people and to share information with foreign governments.
SECTION 322 removes Congress from the extradition process and allows officers of the Homeland Security complex to extradite American citizens anywhere they wish. It also allows Homeland Security to secretly take individuals out of foreign countries.
SECTION 402 is titled "Providing Material Support to Terrorism." The section reads that there is no requirement to show that the individual even had the intent to aid terrorists.
SECTION 403 expands the definition of weapons of mass destruction to include any activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce.
SECTION 404 makes it a crime for a terrorist or "other criminals" to use encryption in the commission of a crime.
SECTION 408 creates "lifetime parole" (basically, slavery) for a whole host of crimes.
SECTION 410 creates no statute of limitations for anyone that engages in terrorist actions or supports terrorists. Remember: any crime is now considered terrorism under the first Patriot Act.
SECTION 411 expands crimes that are punishable by death. Again, they point to Section 802 of the first Patriot Act and state that any terrorist act or support of terrorist act can result in the death penalty.
SECTION 421 increases penalties for terrorist financing. This section states that any type of financial activity connected to terrorism will result to time in prison and $10-50,000 fines per violation.
SECTIONS 427 sets up asset forfeiture provisions for anyone engaging in terrorist activities. There are many other sections that I did not cover in the interest of time. The American people were shocked by the despotic nature of the first Patriot Act. The second Patriot Act dwarfs all police state legislation in modern world history.
