I wrote Lieberman about Bush's use of signing statements and how he's been basically changing Congressional legislation to be the way he wants it, most recently re: the Patriot Act. Here is Lieberman's response, which did not address the signing statement issue AT ALL.
Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me to express your views about the USA PATRIOT
and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005 (H.R. 3199), which
was introduced by Representative James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI). I
appreciate your views on this serious issue, and I welcome the opportunity
to respond.
Like virtually all of my Senate colleagues, I supported the Patriot Act
(P.L. 107-56) in 2001 because I thought it was a comprehensive effort to
respond to the new threats our nation faced after September 11.
Everything changed on that date, and the tools law enforcement had before
then - which in many cases were crafted for a different technological era
and a different type of threat - had to be reevaluated to ensure they were
appropriate for the era in which we now live. Put simply, in this
post-September 11 world, we cannot afford to leave law enforcement - often
our most important defense in the war on terrorism - without the tools and
resources it needs to do this vital work.
At the same time, we must not disregard our 225-year-old commitment to
personal freedom. It is this historic commitment to individual liberty
that makes us such a great nation. Security cannot be an excuse to do
away with that commitment of our nation's founders.
As you may know, the final version of H.R. 3199 would reauthorize 14 of
the 16 provisions of the Patriot Act which were set to expire on December
31, 2005. On December 16, 2005, I voted against ending debate on H.R.
3199 because I thought we could improve the bill to better balance the
need for strong tools in the war on terror with the desire to protect
civil liberties. I voted against ending debate on the bill again on March
1, 2006, because I thought the Senate Minority should have been given the
opportunity to try to further amend the bill. However, I voted in favor
of the final version of H.R. 3199 on March 2, 2006, which passed the
Senate by a vote of 89 to 10. The President signed this measure into law
on March 8, 2006.
I supported the final measure because we cannot afford to let the Patriot
Act lapse; and, while still not perfect, the current version of the bill
contains some improvements on the civil liberties front, both from current
law and from the conference report that I opposed last year.
However, I consider this a work in progress; and I intend to continue
working with my colleagues to provide improvements to protect the privacy
of innocent Americans. I strongly believe that the government must have
the tools it needs to fight the war on terror, and I am convinced that
adequate protections for civil liberties will not dull the sharpness of
those tools.
My official Senate web site is designed to be an on-line office that
provides access to constituent services, Connecticut-specific information,
and an abundance of information about what I am working on in the Senate
on behalf of Connecticut and the nation. I am also pleased to let you
know that I have launched an email news update service through my web
site. You can sign up for that service by visiting
http://lieberman.senate.gov and clicking on the "Subscribe Email News
Updates" button at the bottom of the home page. I hope these are
informative and useful.
Thank you again for letting me know your views and concerns. Please
contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work
in Congress.
Sincerely,
Joseph I. Lieberman
UNITED STATES SENATOR
JIL:ae
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