In a show of unity, all 21 candidates representing the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPA) pledged to defend civil liberties while Libertarian candidates for federal office promised to take actions aimed at repealing the USA PATRIOT Act.

The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act was authored by the Bush Administration and rapidly passed by Congress after the 9/11 attacks. It authorizes serious infringements upon the constitutionally guaranteed liberties of the American people.

Among other things, the USA PATRIOT Act allows Americans to be detained without due process, "sneak-and-peek" search warrants to be issued without probable cause and prevents libraries and bookstores from revealing government snooping to their patrons.

While it was an effort to respond to what was perceived as an imminent threat to the country, reflection and review of the Act reveal that the degradation of constitutional guarantees are not worth any incremental increase in security that it may provide. The American government should not go down the path followed by certain twentieth century regimes that began with restrictions of civil liberties and resulted in the detention and ultimately the deaths of millions of people in defense of the fatherland or the motherland or the homeland.

Over 300 local jurisdictions and four states, representing nearly one-third of the population in the U.S., have passed resolutions resisting the Act's draconian measures. In Pennsylvania, the following communities have publicly condemned the USA PATRIOT Act: Berks County, Lansdowne, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, Wilkinsburg and York. The LPPA stands united with these communities in support of the Constitution of the United States.

The LPPA and its candidates will continue to oppose all governmental attempts to compromise the Constitutional rights of citizens. Pennsylvania is the cradle of American liberty, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were both given life within the Commonwealth and it is only fitting that Pennsylvanians lead the way in fighting the USA PATRIOT Act in the legislative branches of our state and federal governments.

Pennsylvanian Benjamin Franklin said it best. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."