Amid posters proclaiming \The Patriot Act is not Patriotic,"" U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, expressed her concerns Wednesday regarding the manner in which the USA Patriot Act was passed through the House and Senate in fall 2001.
Baldwin said the legislation moved quickly through the House and Senate, and was introduced shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, a time when she said many lawmakers on Capitol Hill were still anxious about the possibility of another terrorist attack.
Baldwin also said many officials might have been worried whether voting against the Patriot Act would tarnish their reputations in the eyes of the public.
""Who wants to be seen as the one who voted against these bills? Imagine in many cases how you are characterized by your political opposition for opposing the Homeland Security Department ... opposing a bill that authorizes all our intelligence functions,"" she said.
Baldwin focused much of her attention on the ""behind the scenes"" passing of the bill, arguing it was rushed to the floor with very little scrutiny.
Although the bill was passed by the House Judiciary Committee with unanimous bipartisan support, according to Baldwin, the approved adaptation of the bill never reached the floor because it was rejected by the White House and Senate, who later replaced it with legislation that better reflected their preferences.
Baldwin expressed frustration with the legislative process, claiming some members of Congress tacked on expansions and provisions of the Patriot Act to other popular bills, such as Homeland Security, and the Intelligence Authorization Act.
During her speech, Baldwin referenced a short video of a House Judiciary Committee meeting featuring her questioning Attorney General John Ashcroft about the Patriot Act. It was increasingly difficult, according to Baldwin, to convince Ashcroft to appear in front of the Committee. After more than a year of prodding, the attorney general offered to testify on the condition his responses would be classified; an offer Baldwin did not necessarily appreciate.
""No, we're not going to go behind closed doors and read the answers; we're going to try to keep on pushing for public disclosure ... and justification for why these answers weren't coming up,"" she said.
""She didn't sound like a radical [leftist],"" said UW-Madison junior Yaniv Lusky of Baldwin's speech. ""She sounded like she was more concerned about what the administration has been doing ... that the Patriot Act basically just gives them unlimited power.""
