Dateline: 09/26/01

Seeking broad expansions to federal police powers, Attorney General John Ashcroft on Sept. 24, presented the proposed Mobilization Against Terrorism Act to the House Judiciary Committee. 

Explaining that the proposed legislation would redefine the antiterrorism effort while protecting civil liberties, Ashcroft told the committee the purpose of the bill was to, "provide the President and the Department of Justice with the tools and resources necessary to disrupt, weaken, thwart, and eliminate the infrastructure of terrorist organizations, to prevent or thwart terrorist attacks, and to punish perpetrators of terrorist acts."

"The danger that darkened the United States of America and the civilized world on September 11 did not pass with the atrocities committed that day," said Ashcroft. "It requires that we provide law enforcement with the tools necessary to identify, dismantle, disrupt and punish terrorist organizations before they strike again. Terrorism is a clear and present danger to American's today."

Already drawing fire from civil liberty organization, the proposed bill would:

• Expand federal wire tap authority, including allowing law enforcement agencies to obtain a single warrant to monitor all forms of electronic communications of persons suspected of terrorist activity.
  
  
• Expands the the authority of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to detain and remove suspected terrorists by expanding the definition of terrorists to include those who lend support to terrorist organizations. 
  
  
•  Attaches the legal status of murder to any terrorism-related act. Eliminates the statute of limitations on terrorist acts. Provides for alternative maximum sentences, up to life, for the commission of terrorist acts, giving judges the ability to punish terrorists commensurate to their crimes. A number of other proposals are designed to punish or deter those who would assist terrorists and their organizations through concealment of their activities or their members.
  
  
• Provides measures designed to cripple the financial infrastructure of terrorist organizations. Would allow for seizure of assets of persons engaged in terrorist activities and extends criminal liability on persons who knowingly engage in financial transactions involving terrorist activities.
  
  
• Expands the discretion of the Attorney General to offer and disburse rewards in connection with crimes of terrorism.

In testimony before the Judiciary Committee, representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union objected to parts of the act dealing with the detention and treatment of immigrants, expansion of federal wiretapping and personal intelligence gathering powers, and several provisions dealing with criminal justice.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), stated that while the act had bipartisan support in Congress, "There are a number of provisions in your measure that give us constitutional trouble."

Attorney General Ashcroft assured the committee that the Justice Department had prepared the proposed act, "with a total commitment to protect the rights, the constitutional rights and the privacy of all Americans," and added, "We will respect, we will safeguard the constitutional protections which we hold dear."