Reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives
June 10, 2005
Testimony of Dr. James Zogby:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member Conyers and Members of the Committee. I appreciate the convening of this hearing and thank you for inviting me today.
The horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th were a profound and painful tragedy for all Americans. None of us will ever forget the awful day when thousands of innocent lives were lost. The attacks were dual tragedy for my community. As Americans, it was our country that was attacked. Arab Americans died in the attacks. Arab Americans were also firefighters and police officers in New York and in Washington who aided in the rescue efforts. Some lost their lives doing so. Sadly, however, many in my community were torn away from their morning, because we became targets of hate and discrimination. Some assumed our collective guilt. Arab Americans and American Muslims and others perceived to be Arabs and Muslims were victims of hundreds of bias incidents.
Thankfully the American people rallied to our defense. President Bush spoke forcefully against hate crimes. Both the Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed resolutions condemning hate crimes. Federal, State and local law enforcement investigated and prosecuted. I received death threats. My family and I did. Two individuals have been prosecuted and convicted for those crimes. My community and I personally will always been grateful that our fellow Americans defended us at a critical time.
Much has been done in the past 3 1/2 years to combat the threat of terror. Among other significant accomplishments is we created the Department of Homeland Security. We have taken steps to enhance airport and border security and we have improved information sharing between intelligence and law enforcement. However, as someone who has spent my entire professional life working to bring Arab Americans into the mainstream of American politics and to build a bridge between my country and the Arab world, I am concerned about the direction of some of our efforts to combat the terrorist threats and the impact that some of these efforts have had on my community and my country.
Unfortunately the Administration has devoted too many resources to some measures that threaten civil liberties while doing little to protect our community. I share the concerns of my colleagues with some provisions of the PATRIOT Act that give law enforcement broad authority to monitor the activities of innocent Americans with inadequate judicial oversight.
These concerns, I might add, are shared by Americans across the political spectrum. I am supportive of reasonably reforms like those recommended in the Security and Freedom Enhancement, or SAFE Act. I am concerned as well about a series of high profile initiatives not authorized by the PATRIOT Act, which have explicitly targeted tens of thousands of innocent Arabs and Muslims and have resulted in the detention and deportation of thousands.
Policies and statements that have conflated undocumented Arab and Muslim immigrants with terrorists has cast a cloud of suspicion over the entire community and contributed to additional discrimination. I therefore support passage of the Civil Liberties Restoration Act.
Look, the measures I am talking about are counterproductive. They're counterproductive, and I want to talk about why. What policies am I talking about? For example, I am talking about the initial round up of 1,200. I am talking about the two so-called voluntary call-ins, and especially, I am talking about the national special registration program, NSEERS. That did not result in apprehending terrorists. They did not do anything but waste law enforcement resources. The FBI says that as well. They created fear and broke trust with many in the immigrant communities that law enforcement needs cooperation with in order to do its job, and they resulted in placing thousands in deportation, often for mere technical reasons because the INS simply had a backlog and couldn't get to their forms.
In addition, they were placed based on the mistaken notion that you conflate immigration policy with any terrorism policy. All it did was cast a wide net and alienated communities that law enforcement needs to have cooperation with. They ran counter to the basic principles of policing. And took a toll on my community, a serious toll. They also took a particular toll on Americans abroad and I want to make that point as I close.
As a result it has become more difficult for our allies to cooperate with us, and it has made America less popular abroad. Now that may not mean something to some people. But it means something to me and it ought to mean something to our country because we are engaged in a long-term conflict in that region.
President Bush is right when he links the spread of democracy to the war on terrorism. But civil liberties abuses against Arabs and Muslims in America and the indefinite secret detention and highly coercive interrogation techniques used in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere have undermined our ability to advocate credibly for democratic reform. In fact, some Arab governments now point to our policies to justify their policies. We have learned anti democratic practices and human rights abuses produce instability and create conditions that breed terrorism. Democratic reformers and human rights activists used to look to America as the city on the hill. We once set a high standard for the world. We have lowered the bar. The damage to our image, to our values, and all that we have sought to project and our ability to deal with the root causes of terror have been profound.
