Dear ACLU of Illinois Supporter,

It is now crunch time on the PATRIOT Act. Make your voice heard now!

Now is the time for all supporters of civil liberties in Illinois to reach out to our congressional delegation and let them know that the powers of the PATRIOT ACT should not be made permanent, they should be reformed. You can send a fax message to your legislators from your computer desktop by going to https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=239.



This week - Wednesday or Thursday in the U. S. House and Thursday in the U.S. Senate - Congress is expected to vote on bills to renew some of the most controversial portions of the USA PATRIOT Act - sections now set to expire at the end of this year. As of this moment, the legislation working its way to the House makes the PATRIOT ACT permanent and expands the already significant powers contained in the original legislation.



We need to tell our legislators to SLOW DOWN! There is no hurry to renew these provisions; they expire at the end of this year. Unfortunately, some in Washington, DC want to renew the provisions prior to the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks - certainly not a reason to recklessly rush and deny members of Congress to carefully consider these important measures.



Please contact your legislator today. Also, please note that we will be contacting some action alert members later this week to urge those in specific congressional districts to make telephone calls - these are the critical "swing" votes that our National Washington Office has identified.