April 13, 2003

Senator Patty Murray

Senator Maria Cantwell

Representative Jay Inslee

FAX: (206) 553-0891, (206) 220-6404, (425) 776-7168

Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, Representative Inslee:

The time has come for you to act. The Constitution of the United States is under attack, and we call upon you to defend it to the utmost of your abilities, and with all of your resources and energy.

The passage of the USA PATRIOT act and its temporary suspension of the First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments was barely tolerable as a short-term solution to an immediate danger in the wake of the September 11^th attacks. The recent suggestions by Senator Hatch to remove the sunset provision and make the USA PATRIOT act permanent, and of others in proposing more legislation along the same lines (such as “PATRIOT II”), show that the immediate danger to our nation is now from within.

Make it known that you will not stand for these continued attacks upon the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. Call upon your Republican colleagues to uphold their oaths to defend the Constitution.

We call upon you to refuse to support any prolonging or expansion of the powers within this unconstitutional abomination, and to act to address the abuses that have already occurred. Legal immigrants and American citizens are being held in federal custody for arbitrarily long periods of time without being publicly charged of any crime and without the ability to freely consult legal counsel or to even have visits from their family members.

Terrorists may be able to blow up American buildings and kill American citizens, but they cannot destroy this country. Only we can do that to ourselves, by destroying out of fear the fundamental basis of our nation: freedom. Do not stand by silently while it is happening.

Yours sincerely,