Johnson couldn't support version of bill

July 26, 2005
By PAUL WOOD

U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson and another Illinois Republican bucked party lines last week by voting against an extension of the Patriot Act.

Urbana 's Johnson and Peoria 's Ray LaHood were among 14 Republicans in the House who voted no. The bill, however, passed by a vote of 257-171.

Johnson said the vote is consistent with his conservatism, his support of President George W. Bush and even his support of the Patriot Act.

He voted for the bill the first time around and would support it again, he said, if the final bill includes sunset provisions that are in the Senate version.

LaHood said he could change his vote, too, if the final version allows for congressional oversight of the sweeping powers given to agencies fighting terrorism. Johnson said he gave the matter serious thought, including pondering the effect of government activism on the freedom of institutions such as libraries.

"This was a difficult vote for a number of points," he said. "I think that over my 30-some years of serving the public, I have established a reputation as a strong supporter of law enforcement not prone to oppose strong law enforcement measures."

The Patriot Act is intended to expand anti-terrorism investigations and powers to the government, including giving more surveillance powers to the government. Critics believe the act should be a temporary response to terrorism and may endanger civil liberties. The act was approved shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Some 14 of the act's 16 provisions have been approved in the House, while the Senate is weighing several extensions.

While in the state Legislature in the '70s and '80s, Johnson worked on drunken driving legislation and rewriting the criminal code on the judiciary committee, including Class X penalties and truth in sentencing, he noted.

But he said the Patriot Act is a response to terrorism and not necessarily a permanent part of the American landscape.

"I believe that while we need to continue to get tough on crime and terrorism, we also need to ensure that our nation stands for fundamental fairness and those essential liberties that make America American," he said.

He quoted one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence on national security: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety," Benjamin Franklin wrote. He said the Patriot Act needs periodic review.

"This is a pretty broad grant of new powers to the federal government. This bill has none of those periodic review and oversight provisions, and simply enacts it as permanent," Johnson said.

Johnson said he would support a bill similar to its wording in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, he said, the rules committee did not allow a separate provision to protect libraries from intrusion.

LaHood made some of the same points about an indefinite extension. "Congress needs to do oversight when you're talking about peoples' rights," he said. A member of the House intelligence committee for seven years, LaHood said he has supported the Patriot Act because before its inception, "law enforcement people were not talking to each other."

He believes that if anti-terrorism agents could have monitored large money transfers before Sept. 11, the Al-Quada operatives might have been detected.

"But under our system, we have to make sure that when people are surveilled, it's done for the right reasons," he added.