In condemning the U.S.A. Patriot Act during his visit to Iowa State Monday, democratic presidential candidate John Kerry took a stance against the act that some have called the biggest modern threat to Americans’ civil liberties.

Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., denounced the act in a speech to more than 800 people in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Kerry said the American people must stand up to protect the U.S. Constitution.

“We will not be silenced, we will not be intimidated,” he said. “We will be heard and we will stand up for our rights.”

Kerry, who voted for the act, said its original intention was to respond to the needs of the country after Sept. 11, and to expire with a sunset clause due for next year. He said the rights granted to the government within the act have been abused.

“Bush used the Patriot Act in a way that was never intended and for things that have nothing to do with terrorism,” he said.

Cara Harris, president of the ISU chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said although Kerry originally voted for the act, his stance on civil liberties ranks better than some candidates’.

“For the most part, John Kerry’s stance is one that a civil libertarian can support,” said Harris, junior in liberal studies. Kerry said if he were elected, he would put a stop to what has become known as the sneak-and-peek rule, which are searches conducted without a warrant or prior notice.

“I know what it’s like to be spied on by the government,” he said. “It happened to me.”

Kerry said when he returned from the war in Vietnam, the government spied on him after he spoke out against the war.

He called for the end of the “John Ashcroft era.”

“I know the one thing this country doesn’t need is an attorney general who spies on Americans,” he said.

He also said he would end racial profiling.

“We are a nation that needs to bend over backward with the lessons we have learned in the past,” Kerry said. “There is a better way to security than racial and ethnic profiling.”

Kerry said to fight terrorism, the United States has to come out of isolation from the rest of the world.

He said the president needs to understand the fight against terrorism needs to be more of an intelligence and law enforcement operation — not a military operation.

“This requires an unprecedented amount of cooperation [between countries], the very opposite George Bush and his arrogant foreign policy are doing today,” he said.

Matt Denner, president of the ISU Campus Greens, said he fully supports Kerry.

“We need a candidate that can not only talk about the issue but can act,” said Denner, senior in political science.

During Kerry’s introduction, Denner said Kerry was his pick for Democratic presidential candidate not just because of his record on issues pertaining to the environment and energy, but also because he is capable of subliminal messaging.

“Last night I dreamed that I had played paintball and then went out for pie with John Kerry,” Denner said.