House of Representatives: Homeland Security Committee, Thursday March 31, 10 AM: A hearing on US involvement in the drug war in Mexico, with updates on drug-related violence in Mexico. Judiciary Committee, Wednesday March 30, 10 AM: The Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee will be holding a hearing on the permanent surveillance provisions of the [...]

Although Representative Justin Amash was endorsed in 2010 by both Tea Party Express and the self-proclaimed “Tea Party HQ” FreedomWorks, he has not joined the Tea Party Caucus headed by Rep. Michele Bachmann. Instead (to no notice beyond the official registry of the Committee on House Administration), Rep. Amash has formed his own House Liberty [...]

Tomorrow, in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, a group of patriotic Americans will gather in protest against the Patriot Act. They are demanding full repeal of the Patriot Act because, as long as the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is not allowed to do its work, no one in America can be confident that their constitutional rights are safe from Patriot Act powers.

Congressman Walter Jones has voted against the extension of the most abusive spying powers of the Patriot Act, and he’s prepared to do it again, in order to compensate for the mistake of his original support for the unjust surveillance law. What are you willing to do to make things right?

The failure of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security to deal with the contents of the EFF report, showing widespread abuses of the Patriot Act, indicates that yesterday’s hearing was not intended as a serious consideration of the surveillance law.

Dennis Kucinich was asking liberals and conservatives to come together around bedrock American values – the values of the Bill of Rights.

Marcy Winograd, a Democratic candidate for the seat, has made her position on the renewal of the Patriot Act’s most abusive powers clear. She opposes the Patriot Act extension, and has pledged to support a full repeal of the Patriot Act.

Adam Kinzinger asks us to believe that all these abuses under the Patriot Act, which is plainly in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, are justified because we must fear a devastating terrorist attack at any moment. If Representative Kinzinger needs the thrill that comes along with living in fear, it’s his right to pursue that terror as an individual. As a member of Congress, however, Kinzinger has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, even in times of fear.

If Dutch Ruppersberger will be true to his word, he must oppose the renewal of the Patriot Act’s affront to American liberty. Join the protest March 12 in DC to remind him, and all members of Congress, that it is their responsibility to repeal the Patriot Act.

Lamar Smith is not beginning the Patriot Act investigations that were promised. That makes the March 12 protest against the Patriot Act in Washington D.C. especially important.