Clearly there is a need to guard against terrorism and threats to our national security. However, there is an equal need to protect and preserve the Bill of Rights, human rights, civil rights, and the Constitution. Benjamin Franklin has said, "Those who trade essential liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." It is with this in mind that the County Board of Legislature has been asked to review the unfair and infamous Patriot Act. They have been asked to work for the repeal of provisions related to federal actions that violate individual freedoms and rights and to act courageously in the fulfillment of their oath of office, support the Constitution of the United States, and the rights of our people. The County Legislature has been asked to urge Westchester County delegations to take action to prevent passage of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act known as Patriot II - either in its entirety or through piecemeal legislation.

For me the infamous Patriot Act is more than a piece of federal legislation, it is a local issue. It is personal and I take it personally:

I take it personally when federal officials have the right to tap my phone or search my house without my knowledge in clear violation of my right to privacy.
I am affronted by the fact that a federal official can demand my medical records, my financial records, and even demand to know what reading material I take from the library, on a pretext of fighting terrorism.
I am outraged that I can be held for indefinite periods without counsel, without anyone knowing where I am, because of my ethnicity or dress.
I am personally appalled to know that my freedom of expression can be violated if an officer feels that I could be a terrorist.

Let the word go forth, that I, and others like me, will not sit quietly by and let oppressive obtrusions become a way of life in this.

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