President Bush, campaigning in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, called on Congress Monday to renew and expand the Patriot Act, which he calls a vital tool to fight terror and critics consider a threat to personal privacy.
Bush’s speech to hundreds of state and local officials appeared aimed at burnishing his national security credentials after hearings before the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks raised questions as to whether he and various government agencies could have done more to prevent them.
“There’s now an urgency to our duty. We have an urgent duty to do everything we can to fulfill our solemn obligation. There are people here in this world who still want to hurt us. They can’t stand America,” Bush said at the Hershey convention center in a city famous for chocolate.
Bush lost Pennsylvania in the 2000 presidential race and was on his 27th visit to the state in hopes of capturing it this Nov. 2. He has a slight lead over Democrat John Kerry in recent polls in the state.
Later, Bush was to headline an event in Pittsburgh expected to raise $400,000 for Sen. Arlen Specter’s campaign. A moderate Republican, Specter faces a tough re-election challenge in the April 27 primary from conservative Rep. Pat Toomey.
Specter, who flew on Air Force One with Bush Monday, told The New York Times Friday that he had some questions about the Patriot Act. “I think it’s important to re-enact the Patriot Act but there has to be more balance between enforcement power and civil rights,” Specter said.
The Specter connection
Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, the likely Democratic nominee in the race for Specter’s seat, said Bush came to Pennsylvania because ”Arlen Specter is in a very close race for renomination.”
“Arlen used to be a moderate maverick, and for the last three years he has been neither,” Hoeffel said.
The Patriot Act was approved by a large majority of the U.S. Congress in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks as a way to keep track of potential terrorists.
Opponents, including some conservatives, say the Patriot Act has given federal agents too much power, for example to invade privacy with provisions such as those that make it easier to tap telephone conversations.
Some provisions are set to expire at the end of next year. Those include ways for intelligence agents and law enforcement authorities to share information about suspected terrorists, and the expanded use of wiretaps and search warrants.
'Defends our liberty'
“The Patriot Act defends our liberty,” Bush said.
He said Congress should also approve using “administrative subpoenas” — which he said would give law enforcement the authority to request certain types of “time-sensitive records” without getting prior approval from a judge or grand jury.
Bush also asked Congress to approve the presumptive denial of bail in terrorism cases and allow the death penalty for terrorist crimes that result in death.
Intelligence failures before the Sept. 11 attacks have been a main focus of the Sept. 11 commission, and Bush used his remarks in Hershey — and an event planned Tuesday in Buffalo, N.Y. — to maintain that he has taken measures to ensure terrorists cannot operate freely in America.
Directing himself to those who would attack the United States, Bush looked straight into the television cameras and said: “You’ll never shake the will of the United States of America. We’re not going to forget Sept. 11. We are determined, we are resolute and we will bring you to justice.”
Kerry voted for the Patriot Act but has since been critical of it, saying there is a danger that the new powers for law enforcement will be abused by the Bush administration. He said the law needs to be reformed.