By Dustin Hurst | Watchdog.org
WAITING GAME: Tester told voters six years ago that he wanted to repeal the Patriot Act.
HELENA – In fall 2006, many of Montana’s civil libertarians fell in love with Jon Tester — for good reason.
The then state senator proclaimed his dislike for famed privacy-intruding legislation by saying, “I don’t want to weaken the Patriot Act, I want to repeal it.”
That line helped propel Tester to an upset victory over Republican incumbent Conrad Burns in their U.S. Senate race. Tester won over the freedom-minded with the assertion the Patriot Act, quickly passed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack on New York City, restricted freedoms.
More than six years later, those liberty-minded Montanans are still waiting for Tester to act. In his six-and-a-half years in the Senate, Montana’s junior senator has yet to file legislation to repeal the controversial law.
Sure, he’ll act, but in a rather Beltway-like manner with regard to the issue.
Just last week, Tester issued an email calling for the Patriot Act’s repeal.
“There’s one thing we can do to restore our civil liberties: Repeal the PATRIOT Act right now,” the second-term senator wrote.
More tough talk. Sounds nice, right?
The email asks recipients to sign a petition in support of the idea. Of course, it pushes signers to submit their email address, surely to be safely stored in a Tester’s email bank for use in his next campaign.
The pitch also comes with this: An offer for supporters to donate to Montanans for Tester, the senator’s campaign committee.
Put that in context: While the nation learns more and more each day about the surveillance state’s rapid growth in the past few years, Tester busily raises funds off the crisis.
Oh, and he also bolsters his credentials in the left-wing media. Tester told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell last week that the act was “one of the main reasons I ran for this position.” He also said the Senate should have an open debate about the Patriot Act’s role in national security efforts.
While he hasn’t acted on full repeal, the senator hasn’t been dormant on the issue, either.
He voted against extending the Patriot Act in 2011, swearing not to support the legislation as long as it contained freedom-violating provisions.
JILTED: Dan Cox feels disappointed in Tester over civil liberties issues.
Earlier this month, Tester joined with a bipartisan group of senators to introduce a bill to declassify Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court opinions. The court holds closed proceedings due to sensitive nature of its task.
Tester and a handful of other senators, including Utah Republican Mike Lee, contended that the court, which has been a key figure in the recent revelations about the federal government’s abundant snooping on Americans, shouldn’t operate in the dark.
“We must find the right balance between protecting our nation and protecting the civil liberties that make America the greatest country in the world,” Tester said.
Still, Tester’s failure to make good on his 2005 promise disappoints those with strong objections to the Patriot Act.
Libertarian Dan Cox ran for the U.S. Senate last year opposite Tester and Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg because, at least in part, he felt disappointed in their voting records on civil liberties.
During the campaign, Cox admitted that Tester had the better record on privacy issues, but Thursday he told Watchdog.org that the senator “hasn’t lifted a finger” to repeal the act, despite the 2006 promise.
“That’s just the state of politics today,” Cox said. “Tell the electorate whatever you need to get power.”
Cox, a small business owner from Darby, says he’s watched the horror unfold the past few weeks as the covers have been pulled off America’s vast spying machine, the National Security Agency.
“It’s only going to get way worse,” he said.
Could Tester one day become a true champion of civil liberties and introduce the repeal bill? Cox isn’t optimistic.
“No, I don’t think he will,” Cox said.
Tester’s office doesn’t want to talk about it. The senator’s press office didn’t return an email on the issue.
Several activist groups, including Downsize D.C., the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have called for Congress to throw out the law or some of its more intrusive provisions.
More than 17,000 Americans have signed a White House petition asking President Barack Obama’s administration to repeal the act and end collection of phone and email records. That mark is well short of the 100,000 needed for a response.
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