"In response to a letter the Attorney General sent today to the Senate leadership, urging the Senate not pass the "SAFE Act" (which would place limits on certain provisions in the PATRIOT Act so they could be used only in true terrorism cases), former Congressman Bob Barr wrote the Senate leadership and urged them to hold hearings and pass the legislation, despite a premature veto threat by the Administration.

"In his letter, Barr noted that when the Administration initially proposed the PATRIOT Act in 2001, it told Congress it was intended to be used to fight terrorism, that it was narrowly drafted, and that it was needed for that purpose only. However, as recent cases have shown, the government is broadly employing the powers granted in the PATRIOT Act to prosecute cases involving other crimes having nothing to do with terrorism.

"Barr, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on these matters in November 2003 and before a House Judiciary Subcommittee earlier last year, has said repeatedly the PATRIOT Act and other powers now used by the government to fight terrorism, reach too broadly and in so doing violate civil liberties, including Americans' right to privacy.

"Barr also said in response to the Attorney General's threatened veto of the SAFE Act, should it pass the Congress, 'it is disappointing that, far from engaging in a legitimate debate over the reach of the government's powers to fight terrorism, and to seek a balance in that fight, the Administration seeks to shut down debate even before the debate starts."

Barr, a former Member of Congress, has served with the U.S. Department of Justice and Central Intelligence Agency. He continues to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association and works with such groups as Harvard University, the American Conservative Union Foundation, and the ACLU on issues related to privacy and national security.