Today Congressman John Conyers, Jr.,
Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee joined Congressman Bob Barr
(R-GA), Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA),
Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC), Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson Lee(D-TX), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Congressman
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to address the recent actions taken by the Administration
regarding Military Tribunals and other anti-terrorism acts.
Congressman Conyers issued the
following statement regarding these recent actions:
"Today we stand on the verge of
a civil liberties calamity in this country. The Administration and the Attorney
General have taken a series of constitutionally dubious actions that place the
Executive branch in the untenable role of legislator, prosecutor, judge, and
jury.
Certainly, we stand together as a
nation in our collective outrage over the September 11 th terrorist attacks.
However, we do nothing to win the battle against terrorism by sacrificing our
precious freedoms and liberties.
We have been down this road of
overreaction before. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln
suspended habeas corpus. After World War I, our government wrongfully beat and
deported thousands of immigrants. During World War II, we placed
Japanese-Americans in internment camps. After the Oklahoma City bombing we
gutted habeas corpus and decimated our immigration laws.
When Congress passed the
Anti-Terrorism bill last month, I was concerned that the Attorney General would
unilaterally and unjustifiably seek to expand the government's powers. But I
never dreamed he would make me a prophet so quickly. Since then Mr. Aschroft has
dealt one hammer blow after another to the very constitutional values he
repeatedly promised to uphold at his confirmation hearings.
First, the Attorney General totally
ignored my letter of October 31st asking for information concerning the 1,000
plus immigrants who have been detained for undisclosed reasons since the
September attacks.
On October 31 st , the Attorney
General issued regulations permitting the Department of Justice to unilaterally
intercept attorney-client phone calls.
On November 9 th , the Administration
announced a policy of ethnic profiling by which it would
discriminate in granting visas to men from middle eastern countries and target
5,000 Arab male visitors for intensive questioning. Surely in 21st Century
America we can do better than saying than if you are Arab you are a suspect.
Finally, on November 13th , the
Administration announced the creation of secret military courts to try
immigrants and other foreigners for terrorism offenses.
Collectively, the Administration has
swept away the independent judiciary, the right to a public trial, the right to
an appeal, the right to counsel, due process, equal protection and habeas
corpus. Not bad for two weeks' work.
We are here to remind our Attorney
General that the Constitution applies just as forcefully after
September 11th as it did before September 11th . I urge the Administration to
not only reconsider these hasty actions, but to commit to consult and work with
Congress before they issue any further edicts which erode our civil liberties
and alienate our enemies."