Friday, December 16, 2005

Harold Ford Jr. Votes No On Extending Intrusive Patriot Act Provisions

On Wednesday, the House voted 251-174 in favor of extending 14 controversial provisions of the Patriot Act.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "The 251-174 vote would make 14 provisions of the law permanent, including one that eliminates barriers to intelligence agents and prosecutors sharing information. Two other sections, including one known as “the library provision,” would expire in four years unless Congress renews them."

I am proud to announce Congressman Ford voted against these intrusive provisions.

The following statement was released by Congressman Ford back in July concerning the renewal of the Patriot Act:

"I support periodic review of any restrictions on the freedoms and rights of Tennesseans and Americans alike. It is unnecessarily intrusive to ask Americans to forfeit rights and freedoms indefinitely. I took the conservative approach and voted against this indefinite and liberal overreach by the federal government into our private lives.

"I did vote for a substitute which called for a periodic review of these restrictions on our liberties. Unfortunately, a majority of my colleagues wanted a permanent infringement on our rights. I could not support that."

This is just another reason why Harold Ford Jr. must be our next U.S. Senator.

It is about time we had someone representing us that cared about our rights and liberties.

Thank you once again Congressman Ford for standing up for the people!

Note: Read the Democrats' 70 page dissent on the reauthorization Patriot Act from July here!