On the eve of House consideration of amendments to the USA PATRIOT Act, Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) issued the following statement:

"At the very time our troops are overseas heroically fighting and dying in the name of protecting and promoting freedom and democracy, tomorrow the House of Representatives will consider a bill to strip those very freedoms at home.

"The PATRIOT Act threatens the civil liberties of every citizen of this nation, and is a full frontal assault on the Bill of Rights and our Constitution. Like every other Member of Congress I take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, to vote for this bill would violate this sacred oath. This bill violates the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to our Constitution.

"The PATRIOT Act permits the government to continue to conduct criminal investigations without probable cause, to conduct secret searches, to gain wide powers of phone and internet surveillance, and access highly personal medical, financial, mental health, and student records with minimal judicial oversight.

"This bill threatens to turn back the clock on over 200 years of progress in the protection of civil liberties in this nation.

"America can and must be both safe and free. The USA PATRIOT Act fails to protect citizens, fails the Constitution of the United States and fails this great nation."

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