Shocking revelations that President Bush authorized illegal spying on Americans has raised the stakes in the continuing debate over the PATRIOT Act. The Alito hearings revealed that the President's Supreme Court nominee has condoned the abuse of executive power, making it more important than ever that Congress stand up to an overreaching executive.

Thanks in part to your activism, senators filibustered the PATRIOT Act's reauthorization last month, emphatically refusing to extend some of its worst provisions without change. But House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner is refusing to back down, bringing it back to a vote in the House hoping that senators' resolve will falter.

Just as you've told your senators they must protect our civil liberties by opposing a Supreme Court nominee unlikely to reign in this administration’s abuses of power, tell them not to give in to the President's demands for an unchanged PATRIOT Act.

If passed as is,

• … the Justice Department will retain the authority to investigate American citizens without judicial oversight, a power that is invoked more than 30,000 times each year.


• … the government will still be able to search individuals' private property without notifying them.


• … authorities will still be able to search citizens' library records, medical records, school records, and financial records virtually unchecked by the judiciary.

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