VICTORY Act

The VICTORY Act ("Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003") was introduced in the 108th Congress, 1st Session, by Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and co-sponsored by Senators Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Jon Kyl (R-Arizona). DRAFT June 27, 2003/DRAFT July 30, 2003/[1].

The act "creates the new category of crime called narco-terrorism": [2]

The purpose of the bill is "To combat narco-terrorism, to dismantle narco-terrorist criminal enterprises, to disrupt narco-terrorist financing and money laundering schemes, to enact national drug sentencing reform, to prevent drug trafficking to children, to deter drug-related violence, to provide law enforcement with the tools needed to win the war against narco-terrorists and major drug traffickers, and for other purposes." [3]

Reaction

Rachel, posted September 25, 2003, on AlterNet:

"Just as the Patriot Act doesn't have anything to do with real patriotism, a new bill in congress, the Victory Act, has nothing to do with victory."

The Victory Act is, perhaps, a watered-down version of The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 or Patriot Act II. Full Text of the DRAFT Act, January 9, 2003. [4]

According to Warblogging.com, "it may be a little tamer than the DSEA '03. [but what] we do know, however, is extremely troubling."

James Gordon Meek, in the August 6, 2003, New York Daily News article "Ashcroft tour to plug terror bill" announced that Attorney General John Ashcroft was "hitting the road to rally support for the Victory Act, which would further expand his powers to go after Al Qaeda and narcoterrorists ... If passed, the feds would be allowed to:

• Clamp down on Arab hawala transactions, where cash exchanged in an honor system has been funneled to terrorists.
• Get business records without a court order in terrorism probes and delay notification.
• Track wireless communications with a roving warrant.
• Increase sentences for drug kingpins to 40 years in prison and $4 million in fines." [5]

The National Consumer Coalition Privacy Group called the Victory Act "a grab-bag of enhanced police-state powers."

Related SourceWatch articles

• AMBER Alert Anti-kidnap Bill
• Bush administration warrantless wiretapping
• George W. Bush's domestic spying
• Department of Defense
• Department of Justice
• National Security Branch Analysis Center
• Patriot Act I
• Patriot Act abuses
• Total Information Awareness
• war on drugs

External articles

Undated Resources

• See PatriotWatch for "Pieces of Patriot II".

Dated Articles

• Elaine Cassel, The Smell of VICTORY? Ashcroft's Latest Stinkbomb, CounterPunch, August 7, 2003.
• Howard Dean, Governor Dean Condemns Proposed 'Victory Act'. Says Ashcroft 'must not be allowed to compromise our freedoms any further', deanforamerica.com, August 9, 2003.
• Brian Knowlton, Ashcroft Pushes Defense of Terror Law, International Herald Tribune, August 19, 2003.
• Dean Schabner, Target: 'Narco-Terror'. Draft Bill Would Provide Broader Power; Ashcroft Defends Patriot Act, ABC News, August 20, 2003.
• Ryan Singel, Patriot Act II Resurrected?, Wired News, August 21, 2003.
• Pete Guither, Patriot Act, Victory Act, Despot Act, DrugWarRant.com, August 21, 2003.
• Don Eggen, GOP Bill Would Add Anti-Terror Powers, Washington Post, August 21, 2003: "'The Victory Act represents a major expansion of federal surveillance, asset forfeiture and other powers under the guise of linking the war on drugs to the war on terrorism,' said Tim Edgar, legislative counsel for the ACLU. 'It does not address the intelligence problems that led to the September 11th attacks, continuing a failed policy of simply granting more power to the government instead of ensuring the government uses its existing powers effectively.'" See ACLU web page "Oppose the Overreach of Police Powers."
• Bigger Brother?, Mother Jones, August 25, 2003.
• Charles Levondosky, Victory Act would be no victory for public, Casper Star-Tribune, August 26, 2003.
• VICTORY Act - Orwellian theater hits fevered pitch on 9/11 eve, September 7, 2003. Archived at Libertythink.
• H.R. 3037: Antiterrorism Tools Enhancement Act of 2003 introduced in House of Representatives, September 9, 2003.
• Beltway conservatives slam Hatch on VICTORY Act, Salt Lake Tribune, September 15, 2003.
• Walter Cronkite, The new Inquisition, Denver Post, October 7, 2003.
• The 'Victory Act' Details, TalkLeft, November 22, 2003: "With the bill expanding Patriot Act rights moving full speed through Congress this week, people sound surpised--as if they thought things were going to get better. We think they will get worse. The Victory Act has yet to be introduced, but that doesn't mean it's dead."
• Ryan Singel, Congress Expands FBI Spying Power, Wired News, November 24, 2003: "Intelligence spending bills are considered 'sensitive' and so are usually written in complete secrecy and voted on 'without debate or public comment.' This makes them ideal for passing controversial legislation that otherwise would never reach the President's desk. And so the enemies of liberty such as Orrin Hatch (who says that the PATRIOT Act 'enhances our freedoms') inserted this key provision of the PATRIOT Act II and VICTORY Act into an intelligence spending bill. No debate. No public comment."
• Key Component of Victory Act Passed, Warblogging, November 26, 2003: "...an expansion of the power of the FBI to attain financial records without ever talking to a judge, without ever setting foot in a courtroom."
• David Martin, With a Whisper, Not a Bang. Bush signs parts of Patriot Act II into law -- stealthily, San Antonio Current, December 24, 2003: "On December 13, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, President George W. Bush not only celebrated with his national security team, but also pulled out his pen and signed into law a bill that grants the FBI sweeping new powers. A White House spokesperson explained the curious timing of the signing - on a Saturday - as 'the President signs bills seven days a week.' But the last time Bush signed a bill into law on a Saturday happened more than a year ago - on a spending bill that the President needed to sign, to prevent shutting down the federal government the following Monday."