01/27/03 Regular - Laserfiche WebLink

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Session 1867 January 27, 2003 Mary Jo Maroney, 7355 Lindell, requested the Council's support in passing a resolution opposing the USA Patriot Act. David Kennell, 1332 Purdue Avenue, maintained that the Patriot Act would not deter terrorism but would generate fear, suspicion, and hatred against the United States. He urged Council to pass a resolution that would a specific response to the Patriot Act. Tobias Gibson, 1058 Raisler Drive, asked Council to take the strongest response possible to protect civil liberties. Leo Fichtenbaum, 6647 Kingsbury Boulevard, said that, as veteran of World War II and a holder of the Purple Heart, he had seen combat because people did not speak up when they should have. Jonathan March, 7249 Tulane Avenue, claimed that the Patriot Act did not increase security and expressed his support for Mr. Lieberman's draft resolution. He asked Council to establish a policy requiring that city employees preserve the civil liberties of all city residents and, if agents of the federal government request or demand city employees do otherwise, actively protest such demands in the courts and the Congress. David Felix, 712 Pennsylvania Avenue, stated that the Patriot Act was an effort to use national security as an excuse to silence opposition to the policy of the federal current administration. Nadim Kanafani, M.D., 7312 Chamberlain Avenue, said he feared that the Patriot Act will implicitly deny citizens the right to express their opinion. Zaki Baruti, 812 Saxony Court, appealed to Council to be in the vanguard by adopting a resolution. John H. Gladney, 8401 Delmar, identified himself as a retired physician, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He spoke about the importance of citizens not being silent on this issue. Frank O. Richards, MD, 7925 Teasdale Court, said that he believed that a citizen should never assume that civil liberties are safe and that their preservation should be pursued. Marcia Levin, 7509 Gannon, asked Council to oppose the Patriot Act in order to continue to build a community where people of all different religions, races, backgrounds and viewpoints can feel safe and protected.