Final 9/11 Commission Report Does Not Call for Patriot Act Search Powers Expansion

The ACLU recently "took note" of the final report of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project. Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, said that

the successor organization to the 9/11 Commission did not call for a further expansion of the Patriot Act. Congress is currently working to pass legislation to reauthorize provisions of that law that are scheduled to "sunset," or expire, at the end of this year.

"Congress must take note that the findings do not call for a further erosion of the Bill of Rights by expanding the Patriot Act," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Indeed, the 9/11 Commissioners’ main concerns with the Patriot Act focused on distribution of funding for homeland security. As Congress works to reauthorize and hopefully fix the Patriot Act, we urge lawmakers to take steps to ensure that America is both safe and free."

The article concludes:

The report card also touched on the issue of the standardization of secure identification cards. Early this year, Congress approved the REAL ID Act, which imposes federal standards on state identification documents. The ACLU and other privacy advocates noted that this created a de facto national ID card that would threaten the privacy of innocent Americans facilitate government surveillance of their activities.

"Too many of the steps taken since 9/11 only give a false sense of security and create a true threat to civil liberties," Fredrickson added. "Without substantive corrections as well as meaningful oversight and --better transparency and disclosure-- America will be ceding our Bill of Rights to fear."