Veterans For Peace Position Paper On the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 12 February 2003
On Friday, the seventh of February 2003 a Public Broadcasting System interview between respected journalist Bill Moyers and Mr. Chuck Lewis of The Center for Public Integrity revealed the existence of proposed legislation titled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003. This act, drafted under highly undemocratic conditions of secrecy, is an extension of the Patriot Act and infringes even further on the freedoms and rights our Constitution guarantees to citizens.
While this proposed act does not bear directly on the elements the Veterans For Peace stated mission, it poses a grave threat to the integrity of the Constitution of the United States and flies in the face of cherished American ideals. We veterans each took an oath to defend this country and its constitution and gave our service to that end, some of us at great cost. Now it becomes evident to us that we must arise to this defense again by speaking out.
The proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 rolls back the hard won advances that we have made to protect citizen's privacy and to require transparency from our government and to a certain degree from big business through the Freedom of Information Act.
The proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 further destroys the right to due process and increases the government's ability to arrest secretly, incarcerate and try individuals. While the Act limits who may be dealt with in this manner at this time, it escalates the possibility of extending this treatment to any citizen.
The proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, furthermore, carries implicit overtones of racism, of bias against the Islamic faith and of hidden agendas held by the powerful few.
In reality, this misguided, foolhardy and thoroughly undemocratic legislation does not enhance our security in a useful way. Instead it cuts away the constitutional underpinnings that have made our citizens secure. It further opens the door to a police state. It creates the possibility of totalitarian suppression of the people. It invites the abuse of power in ways that threaten the liberty of every citizen.
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, 'Who would give up liberty to gain security deserves neither liberty nor security.' We must not let ourselves be robbed of our constitutional guarantees and our democratic ideals by the fear of terrorist attack. That way lies the true danger to us all.
Veterans For Peace urges every citizen to contact their elected representatives and make their position on the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 known to them. We urge them to become active in support of what they believe to be right and good and to work against what they believe to be wrong.
Veterans For Peace urges the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States to protect our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees to all of us, senator and citizen alike.
Veterans For Peace urges every citizen to vote for the representatives they believe will carry out the people's will. If such representatives are not available to them, we further urge them to seek out candidates they respect and create the means to run them for office.
Sources:
a. NOW/PBS Bill Moyer's interview with Chuck Lewis of The Center for Public Integrity. http://www.pbs.org/now/index.html
b. The Center for public integrity http://www.publicintegrity.org/dtaweb/home.asp