Patriot Act--Congress has no lawful power to legislate it

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050715/NEWS/507150330/1022

Patriot Act must be fought

July 15, 2005

Neither the government of Vermont nor the Congress of the United States has the power to override the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The state and the Congress are ordered by constitutional law. Congress's powers are restricted to making law for carrying into execution the powers vested in Congress by Article 1, Section 8 and all other powers vested by the constitution in the government of the United States.

The Fourth Amendment forbids Congress from interfering with the clause "shall not be violated." The "supremacy clause" (Article 6) makes the U.S. Constitution and all laws made pursuant to it the supreme law of the land. The Fourth Amendment is the supreme law of the land, which states the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated. The only exception to that is when there is probable cause supported by oath, a warrant will be issued by a judge defining the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. Mining of personal data and searching of records is forbidden.

Government has repeatedly proven that it cannot be trusted and must be forced to obey the laws that define our constitutional rights. The USA Patriot Act with its inherent invasion of privacy is profiling Americans on a grand scale. Congress has no power to pass the Patriot Act.

Senators Leahy and Jeffords, Rep. Sanders and all of Congress must eliminate this attack on the rights of the people. This act is clearly an intentional violation of the rights of the people, a criminal act by Congress.

William Brueckner

Waterbury Center