[Think] H.R. 2500

[Fen Labalme]

Dear H.R. 2500 Conference Committee Member:

I write to express my gravest concern over aspects of the Congressional
response to the tragedies of September 11. While I share your grief and
anger in no uncertain terms, I do not believe that sacrificing essential
liberties in a vain hope of improving security is good for America or the
world. Security can be improved without privacy invasion, and we cannot win
an attack on freedom by attacking that freedom ourselves.

I specifically object to H.R. 2500 amendment S.A. 1562, the Combating
Terrorism Act, sections 816, 832, 833, and 834, and any similar measures,
such as the Mobilization Against Terrorism Act a.k.a. Anti-Terrorism Act
proposed by Attorney General Ashcroft, and the draft Public Safety and Cyber
Security Enhancement Act (PSCSEA), as well as recent calls for measures that
would thwart Americans' use of secure encryption. I also object to
provisions being passed in response to terrorism but which have nothing to
do with terrorism, such as "emergency" wiretaps against simple computer
crime incidents and the abuse of grand juries as tools for intelligence
agencies.

I urge you to vote AGAINST incorporating the above-mentioned sections of
S.A. 1562 into the final version of H.R. 2500, and to vote against any
similar amendments expanding wiretap powers, online monitoring, warrantless
pen register or trap and trace authority, censorship, or restrictions on
encryption. This matter above all should be subject to careful and
deliberate scrutiny in Congressional hearings, not voted on by a fraction of
Congress in haste.

The United States should not take steps toward becoming a police state, or
otherwise undermine our own freedom in the name of defending that freedom
from terrorist attack, or the terrorists have already won. This is a time
for careful consideration, not for passing legislation without debate or
careful consideration of the consequences.

Sincerely,
Fen Labalme
1899 California Street #9
San Francisco, CA 94109
-- 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated"
              - the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution