EDITORIAL – If you give the FBI a cookie…

If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk. If you give the FBI powers under… If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk. If you give the FBI powers under the PATRIOT Act and they’re caught abusing them, they’re going to want a second chance.

FBI Director Robert Mueller pleaded with the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday to give him and the FBI another chance to better use the powers granted to his agency under the PATRIOT Act, according to the Associated Press. The act, created in 2001, not only allows the agency to collect private information – telephone, travel, e-mail and financial records – about suspected terrorists and spies without a judge’s OK, but the FBI is also allowed to gather information on anyone they deem relevant to terrorist investigations.

That’s right – anyone.

A report filed by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine indicated that after reviewing four of the agency’s 56 field offices and files from FBI headquarters, the agency was in violation of laws and presidential directives. Specifically, instances of the FBI’s abuse of data-gathering letters called national security letters. In fact, the report found 48 violations alone between 2003 and 2005. Fine estimated that there could “be up to 3,000 unidentified or unreported violations throughout the FBI,” according to the AP.

Members of the Judiciary Committee, including Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, told Mueller that they believe it is time to re-evaluate the powers given to the FBI under the PATRIOT Act. Mueller countered by saying that the problems are not because of the act, but rather the FBI’s implementation, according to the AP.

“What I did not do and should have done is put in a compliance program to be sure those procedures were followed,” Mueller told the committee. “We are committed to demonstrating to the committee, the Congress and the American people that we will correct the deficiencies.”

“Every time we turn around there is another enormous failure by the bureau,” Specter said after citing recent instances of FBI blunders including lost laptops and weapons and poor reporting on terrorist cases.

Mistake after mistake has proven that the FBI cannot handle the power given to it and that checks and balances must be restored to protect the privacy of Americans. Lawmakers cannot be allowed to push through hideously corrupt measures at the expense of the American people. They can no longer justify the PATRIOT Act as short-term personal sacrifice for the greater good of the United States. The proliferation of irresponsible decision-making on the part of the Bush Administration gives us no reason to believe that the mistakes will end. The only way to make sure the rights of Americans aren’t being violated is to renew requirements that protect private citizens.

It’s like a parent giving their teen keys to the family car when he gets his driver’s license. If he crashes the car once, he should be encouraged to get back in the car and drive again. But if he consistently rams the family minivan into a brick wall at 40 mph, it’s probably time to take the keys away for good.