CC Minutes - 11/25/02 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Muslims in Eugene had been warmly supported and embraced by the community. He said the thing that lifted him from his depression was communication with the City leaders that he passed on to Eugene's Muslim community. He said that a resolution opposing the unconstitutional pads of the USA Patriot Act would make that community feel safer. Bruce Miller, PO Box 50968, urged the people in the audience to remember the names of the councilors who had voted against the extension of the Public Forum to one hour. Dana Kay, 2350 Oakmont, speaking for the Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon, thanked the council for passing the smoke-free ordinance in Eugene. She noted that written information had been mailed to all of the councilors, which contained feedback from the community on the anti- smoking ordinance. Jennifer Self, 129 Treehill Loop, spoke in favor of a resolution against the USA Patriot Act. She said it was a local issue because the act impacted people who lived and worked in the community as resident aliens, impacted social justice organizations, those who used the Internet, those who bought books, those who checked out books from the library, religious organizations, and students in public schools and higher education. She said the act unconscionably combined immigration law, criminal law, and foreign surveillance laws and fundamentally eroded the Bill of Rights for the United States. She encouraged a resolution rather than a letter since it would be an official document that would show where Eugene stood in regard to the act. She urged the council to show that it could stand up and be counted with the rest of the nation. Hope Marsten, 3040 Ferry Street, speaking for the Lane County Bill of Rights Defense Committee, spoke in opposition to the USA Patriot Act. She presented a petition of 2,000 signatures of Eugene voters against the act. She noted that 14 other local governments had passed resolutions opposing the act which allowed residents to be detained without charges or public trials, allowed "sneak and peek" searches without probable cause, and allowed searches of financial, educational, library, and bookstore purchase records without judicial supervision. She added that there were citizens in 35 cities in 24 states working on similar resolutions. She said the request for a resolution opposing the act was endorsed by the Eugene Human Rights Commission, the Lane County Human Rights Advisory Committee, the Eugene Middle East Peace Group, the Native Forest Council, Intelligent Future, Military Tax Resistance of Lane County, The Oregon Daily Emerald, Eugene Weekly, Eugene Peace Works, Oregon Peace Works, Progressive Responses, Community Alliance of Lane County, Network for Immigrant Justice, Community and Solidarity with Central American People, Whiteaker Community Council, Women's Action for New Directions, Citizens for Public Accountability, Centro LatinoAmericano, and Lane County political parties including Democrats, Libertarians, Socialists, and the Green Party. Misa Joo, 2327 Jefferson Street, expressed her pleasure in being able to come and speak for the Bill of Rights like she had been taught from the time she could talk. She said she learned about citizenship from her Japanese immigrant grandparents and what they endured during World War II while interned in camps as enemy aliens. She commented that the word "terrorist" was being used in the same way that "enemy alien" was used at that time. She related that her uncle had fought in the 442nd Battalion during that war and had justified the blood spilled so that things like the internment camps would never happen again. She said the USA Patriot Act came from the same mentality that had created the Japanese internment camps during the Second World War. She urged a resolution rather than writing individual letters. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 2 Regular Meeting