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Within the next several weeks, Congress will vote on the renewal of the so-called Protect America Act. We at the American Civil Liberties Union are deeply concerned about this latest campaign of fear, misinformation and secrecy that surrounds the act, and we commit to do all we can to ensure that any new legislation will protect, rather than further restrict, America's civil liberties.

Remember, this past August Congress rushed through changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act at the insistence of the Bush administration. The ACLU opposed this legislation because it allows for the massive, untargeted collection of international communications. Unbelievably, the act leaves decisions about the collection, mining and use of Americans' private phone call and e-mail communications up to the executive branch, without court order or meaningful oversight by either Congress or the courts.

Our Montana delegation was divided on its vote. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, as champions of individual civil liberties, voted against this assault on our privacy rights. They should be applauded for their consistent and courageous attempts to halt the abuse of power by the executive branch. In the House, Rep. Denny Rehberg supported the administration's request. Clearly, he needs to be made better aware of how the people in Montana feel about the erosion of their rights and the diminution of the rule of law.

In September, the Montana State Bar acknowledged their moral, ethical and professional responsibility to speak publicly about the degradation of our legal system. They passed a resolution urging the president and Congress to take actions to restore the rule of law, specifically calling for the restoration of habeus corpus, the repeal of the Military Commissions Act, the restoration of due process and the closure of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.

We ask you to join in supporting our senators to stay firm in their opposition to expanding unchecked executive power. In the past year, Rehberg demonstrated his willingness to represent Montana's interests by dissenting with the Bush administration. He reversed his position to the federal identification scheme known as “Real ID.” He voted to stop the Drug Enforcement Administration from interfering in medical marijuana issues in states like ours that have legalized medical marijuana. He supported the State Children's Health Insurance Program bill recently vetoed by Bush. These votes make us believe Rehberg can be persuaded to continue to demonstrate independence if he understands how important his vote can be to stopping the further erosion of our fundamental constitutional rights.

As it stands now, the Protect America Act disregards Fourth Amendment protections and allows for the collection of phone call and e-mail data from innocent Americans who have no connections to terrorism. With Congress about to revisit this legislation, the ACLU is asking Congress to either include meaningful civil liberties safeguards or just let the act expire. We invite you to join us in restoring the constitutional rights that are fundamental to us all.

Scott Crichton is executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, and Cathy Day is public policy director of the Montana ACLU.

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