How can the American people advise their representatives in Congress about whether to support the renewal of the Patriot Act’s extraordinary government surveillance powers when the extent of many of those powers remain secret? Which powers am I referring to? Well, I can’t say – because it’s a secret.

Senator Ron Wyden, as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, knows what the secret spying powers the federal government claims under the Patriot Act are – and he says we’d be shocked if we knew what he knows.

“It is impossible for Congress to hold an informed public debate on the Patriot Act when there is a significant gap between what most Americans believe the law says and what the government is using the law to do. In fact, I believe many members of Congress who have voted on this issue would be stunned to know how the Patriot Act is being interpreted and applied. Of course, intelligence agencies need to be able to conduct operations in secret, but even secret operations need to be conducted within the bounds of established, publicly understood law. Any time there is a gap between what the public thinks the law says and what the government secretly thinks the law says, I believe you have a serious problem.”

When there are secret interpretations of a law like the Patriot Act, which already establishes clearly unconstitutional activities by the government in its known and publicly understood language, it can’t be enough to amend the law to attempt to repair it, because the public cannot really know what secret interpretations and uses the federal government will take from the new amendment – and what the full extent of the problems are that are supposed to be repaired.

What we do know is that the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that is legally required to be created and operational, to ensure that the Patriot Act is not being abused for political purposes or to violate the constitutional rights of Americans, is operationally nonexistent. President Obama has refused to appoint the legally required number of members to the Board that would allow it to begin its work. The Senate has refused to confirm the two members that Obama has nominated.

Under these circumstances, fixing the Patriot Act with gentle amendments is clearly not enough. What America needs, in order for our citizens to regain confidence that their constitutional rights remain intact, is a full repeal of the Patriot Act.

In Washington D.C. on March 12, outside the west side of the U.S. Capitol building, American citizens who care about their liberty will come together in protest. They will have one simple demand to Congress: Repeal the Patriot Act.

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