October 3, 2001 1:15pm

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
1632 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, D.C. 20515
Fax: (202) 225-3178

Dear Congressman Cummings,

<p>I urge you to oppose the Patriot Act when you vote today at 2pm.  

<p>I sincerely believe that the short-term changes this act makes in electronic surveillance, information sharing between agencies, and potential use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court against American citizens will endanger our freedoms and protections from governmental abuse of power in the years to come.

<p>There has been little convincing demonstration of need by law enforcement and intelligence agencies for increasing their surveillance abilities and lightening restrictions on what can be done with evidence collected in police investigations.  

<p>If it seems completely inevitable that such a bill will pass on the floor, I urge you to make sure that an automatic expiration date of 12/31/03 (or sooner) remains in place.  This expiration date would bring any new authorities that might be granted today under renewed scrutiny once our nation has had time to carefully evaluate our desired balance of liberty and security.

<p>Thank you for your time.

                            <p>Sincerely,


                            <p>Rob Carlson

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