Civlib.Vspeech1

GLOBAL DIALOG PROJECT << GLOBAL DIALOG HOME << Santa Fe Pages | Democracy ** Civil Liberties ** Freedom MAINPAGE>> A Labor Day speech in support of civil liberties

## LABOR DAY SPEECH ### By Valerie Gremillion Labor Day was first celebrated over 100 years ago, as a way to acknowledge the labor of America’s workers and to celebrate their role in building the foundations of the United States of America. The workers of this great country were not given a fair wage, reasonable working hours, or safe working conditions – they had to fight for them, they had work to make fairness and justice the real law of the land. I am here today to talk about the same situation – a situation where all Americans must stand for fairness, for justice, for our rights and freedoms. John F. Kennedy said, “If the rights of one man are denied, the rights of all men are diminished.” Yet this is the situation today – that the rights of some are denied, and so the rights of all of us are diminished – even if we are unaware of this situation. An important case in point that we should all be aware of: the case of an American citizen named Jose Padilla. He is the alleged ‘dirty-bomb conspirator’ that we all heard so much about a few months ago, but today wehear nothing about. That is because he is locked away in a military prison – not because he has been proven guilty, because no evidence has been presented, no charges have been brought against him, no trial has been had. No- the Bush administration has admitted that he had no actual plans for a dirty bomb, and that there there may in fact have been no conspiracy. But they suspect him of being an Al-Qaeda member, and so President Bush has declared him an enemy combatant – and removed all rights and freedoms he had as an American citizen. All this, again, without evidence, proof, trial, or judicial oversight. And as an ‘enemy combatant’, how long can he expect to be kept in a military prison, denied access to his family or to a lawyer, denied the ability to prove his innocence in a court of law? ‘Until the war ends’ we are told. But we are also told that the War on Terrorism may have no end, and so his time in prison may also be without end. This is not innocence until proven guilty; this is not the law of the land; this is not adherence to the Constitution of our country. This is a travesty of the rights of us all, that an American citizen can be stripped of his rights, thrown into prison without evidence, without a trial, without due process, on the word of only the President of the United States. And if it can happen to one man, to Jose Padilla, then it can happen to any of us, and we are no longer governed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but by political fiat. The case of Jose Padilla is not a solitary violation of our civil liberties. Through recent Congressional legislation and Executive Orders by President Bush, the rights of us all are already infringed. Secret searches of our homes and businesses, access to our financial, medical, and even library records, tapping of our phone, internet, and email communications - these are already happening, all of them without the customary judicial oversight, or safeguards that prevented their misuse and abuse. In the name of the War on Terrorism, rights guaranteed by the Constitution have been violated, removed, and denied to American citizens. Yet the violation of these rights, if they had been present during the tragedy of 9-11, would NOT have prevented it, nor have we been shown any evidence that violation of our precious freedoms will guarantee our security. On the contrary, destroying our Constitution only serves the terrorists’ purpose, and as we act out of fear instead of courage, we destroy our future and the future freedom of our children, and their children’s children – and the real security of the United States of America, with it. So what are we to do if our public officials, sworn to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, instead violate the rights of our citizens? As the example of labor organization shows us, our true strength as a nation lies in the grassroots, in the uniting of the people to stand for what is right and just. Cities around the country are therefore passing resolutions affirming and upholding the Bill of Rights. They are asking that their local law enforcement uphold the Constitution, instead of the parts of the PATRIOT Act or Executive Orders which violate the Constitution, and deny the guaranteed civil liberties of American citizens. They are asking that their Congressmen and Senators work for the repeal of all legislation and executive orders that violate the Constitution. You too can be part of this. Here in Santa Fe, a group of citizens has been working on the draft of a Santa Fe resolution: a resolution called In Support of Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights. It has passed through many groups, many meetings, and multiple drafts. You too can participate – you can attend our meeting tomorrow and give your opinion, you can sign up to be on our mailing list, or sign in support of the Resolution today. You can help us bring the draft of the Resolution to our city councilors, to ask for their support and sponsorship. You can help make the voice of the people be loud and clear : our rights and freedoms belong to us, they are guaranteed by OUR Constitution, and no one – not Congress, not the President, not the Supreme Court – can take them away. Our forefathers - from the Founding Fathers to the activists who brought us the 8-hour work day, child labor laws, and safe working conditions- worked hard to create a just, fair, and free nation. If we are to honor their labor and their lives, we must be patriotic not just in name or in symbolic allegiance to the flag, but in our choices and in our actions. We must uphold the founding principles of this nation as embodied in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. We must stand up for our rights and for the rights of others, as guaranteed by these sacred documents. We must act, not from fear, but from principles of justice and freedom - or the labor of our fathers and our mothers will be for naught. The real security of our country into the future lies in the guaranteed rights and freedoms of our citizens, in the rule of law and the founding principles of our nation. Let us affirm and defend them while we still can. Thank you.