Comments to my Congressman

Sent on 6/21/2005 to Ed Royce:

I read about the heated debate you spearheaded in the Financial Services Committee yesterday regarding the Frank provision mandating portions of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac profits go to an "affordable housing fund". Just wanted to extend my thanks for standing up against such nakedly socialistic wealth transfers. Even though the Committee passed the Oxley program with the provision intact, hope remains that it won't make it out of the House with it attached.

That said, I was disappointed that you voted the party line on last week's vote regarding the Patriot Act provision granting more power to federal law enforcement to snoop on us common folk. Provisions of the Patriot Act (like RICO before it) have already been utilized against everyday Americans with absolutely no connection to terrorism, without prosecutors even attempting to show any connection at all! Not only that, but the DoJ has consistently inflated its numbers in a failed attempt to show that it's doing any good. The Patriot Act taken as a whole is way too much power for the DoJ to have - as the lack of time for you to even read the whole thing before voting on it should have shown. Each section needs to be rigorously reviewed, debated, and either renewed or sunset - our citizens' freedoms demand a stop to blind, no-debate, "because the President said he needs it" approval votes.