May 3, 2004

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
By FAX: 202-456-2461

Dear President Bush:

We are writing on behalf of the 2,700 members of PEN American Center to urge you to listen closely to the elected representatives from both parties who have raised concerns about provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and related antiterror legislation, and to use the opportunity afforded by the sunset clause in many of the Act's provisions to promote an open, nonpartisan review of post-9/11 security measures.

As an organization that is dedicated to protecting free expression and the unfettered exchange of information and ideas, and one that for 83 years has challenged abuses of power by governments that often justify their abuses in the name of national security, PEN has identified three areas of concern in the USA PATRIOT Act and the many related laws and executive orders enacted since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. These concerns are in the realms of privacy, access to information, and compliance with international law and human rights standards.

Our positions in these areas are far from controversial. Privacy protections-for example, legal guarantees that citizens not suspected of involvement in criminal activity will not be the target of government surveillance-are fundamental to a free society, and essential to ensure that individuals feel at liberty to explore new ideas and pursue information of their own choosing. Our ability to evaluate our ideas and our policies depends on access to information, especially information on how our government is conducting affairs of state, and to ideas, especially those that are figuratively or literally foreign to our way of thinking. And our stature and lasting influence in the world stand or fall on our willingness to adhere to the universal standards and principles the United States helped formulate and promote.

PEN deplores terrorism. Moreover, as an organization with offices less than a mile from the World Trade Center site, we know firsthand the magnitude and immediacy of the terrorist threat, and support strong, targeted measures to confront this threat and prevent terrorist attacks-including many of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. At the same time, the USA PATRIOT Act and many related measures were enacted in a moment of extreme emotion and alarm, circumstances that seldom foster the most effective, enduring, and just public policy. Recognizing this, many legislators who supported the USA PATRIOT Act did so with the understanding that many of its provisions would be reviewed in 2005, and all who endorsed this legislation are now obligated to evaluate these provisions carefully. As they do, we are asking that they work to refine and improve these measures by making sure each provision:

We ask you, in turn, to use your office to protect and promote a critical and open review of the expiring provisions, one that acknowledges the shared commitment of all participants to the security and safety of US citizens, residents, and interests and that allows for changes born of wisdom and experience. Such a review will necessarily invite criticism, and it will require your administration to be more forthcoming than it has been so far in providing information on whether and to what extent it has used the tools the USA PATRIOT Act puts in the hands of government agencies. It will also involve clarifying specific details of the law for the American public-for example, that the "judicial review" required to secure subpoenas under Section 215 can occur in a secret court that does not require a showing of probable cause and, unlike grand jury proceedings, has no citizen involvement, oversight, or review.

Finally, it will also very likely include confronting the concerns of senators and representatives who are as surprised and alarmed as we are by assertions like that of a House Judiciary Committee counsel to the Washington Times that "We did not write a criminal law to be limited to terrorism, except where we said so, and Congress intended these to be tools to protect us from all kinds of crimes." This assertion runs directly counter to your public position that the USA PATRIOT Act extended powers already commonly used in certain criminal investigations to counterterrorism efforts. Such discrepant visions on the basic scope and aims of the Act cannot help but undermine the effectiveness of its application, at a time when what is needed is clarity and singularity of purpose.

We therefore urge you to seize the opportunity built into the USA PATRIOT Act itself to lead a careful, respectful, and comprehensive reconsideration of Act and related antiterror measures.

Sincerely,

Salman Rushdie
President, PEN American Center

Hannah Pakula
Chair, Freedom to Write Committee

Larry Siems
Director, Freedom to Write and International Programs


Click here to go to the Freedom to Write Website