Tony Venhuizen

Patriot Act II worries me. A conservative Republican like me would be expected to support the Bush Administration’s attempts to expand federal authority to quell terrorism.

However, as a conservative, I am philosophically in favor of a small federal government with limited powers that allows its people to live relatively free of government interference. Many of the provisions of Patriot Act II do quite the opposite.

The Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act would be amended to allow the Feds broad new powers to fight terrorism. Rather than granting new powers of surveillance, these amendments would simply extend the life of a warrant for surveillance, expand the types of surveillance allowable under a warrant, and reduce judicial oversight of the surveillance process.