Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul and I haven't seen eye to eye on much through the years, but one area where we agree is with regard to the Patriot Act, which he helped bring to at least a temporary end today.
The Patriot Act, which was enacted on October 26th of 2003, just a month and a half after the 9/11 attacks, has been controversial since its inception, and as the public has learned more about it, the more controversial it has become. Due to the fear and paranoia the 9/11 attacks stoked, the bill was rushed through Congress without many members taking the time to read through it, and as soon as it was signed, the United States government made it known that, in order to increase our security, we had to sacrifice our freedom. Of course, this wasn't actually the case. The bill simply provided an illusion of increased security, while it stripped us of freedom.
I have been an ardent opponent of the bill since first learning about it nearly 12 years ago and am quite content to see it expire. In hindsight, the bill's passing was quite ironic. Then President George W. Bush often times claimed that the 9/11 terrorists attacked the United States out of jealousy with regard to America's democracy and freedoms, yet just a month and a half after the attacks, Bush signed a bill which would strip us of those very freedoms.
As Rand Paul noted just before the Patriot Act's expiration:
"We are here this evening because this is a very important debate. This is a debate over the Bill of Rights. This is a debate over the Fourth Amendment. This is a debate over your right to be left alone. We are not collecting the information of spies. We are not collecting the information of terrorists. We are collecting all American citizens' records all the time. I'm not going to take it anymore. I don't think the American people are going to take it anymore."
I don't stand with Rand on much, but when it comes to restoring Americans' liberty, which was stripped from us in exchange for a false sense of security with the passage of the Patriot Act 12 years ago, I definitely stand with Rand.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nsa-domestic-surveillance-program-expire-senate-fails-reach/story?id=31430492
The Patriot Act, which was enacted on October 26th of 2003, just a month and a half after the 9/11 attacks, has been controversial since its inception, and as the public has learned more about it, the more controversial it has become. Due to the fear and paranoia the 9/11 attacks stoked, the bill was rushed through Congress without many members taking the time to read through it, and as soon as it was signed, the United States government made it known that, in order to increase our security, we had to sacrifice our freedom. Of course, this wasn't actually the case. The bill simply provided an illusion of increased security, while it stripped us of freedom.
I have been an ardent opponent of the bill since first learning about it nearly 12 years ago and am quite content to see it expire. In hindsight, the bill's passing was quite ironic. Then President George W. Bush often times claimed that the 9/11 terrorists attacked the United States out of jealousy with regard to America's democracy and freedoms, yet just a month and a half after the attacks, Bush signed a bill which would strip us of those very freedoms.
As Rand Paul noted just before the Patriot Act's expiration:
"We are here this evening because this is a very important debate. This is a debate over the Bill of Rights. This is a debate over the Fourth Amendment. This is a debate over your right to be left alone. We are not collecting the information of spies. We are not collecting the information of terrorists. We are collecting all American citizens' records all the time. I'm not going to take it anymore. I don't think the American people are going to take it anymore."
I don't stand with Rand on much, but when it comes to restoring Americans' liberty, which was stripped from us in exchange for a false sense of security with the passage of the Patriot Act 12 years ago, I definitely stand with Rand.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nsa-domestic-surveillance-program-expire-senate-fails-reach/story?id=31430492
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