Hi this is Senator Russ Feingold. You may have heard the recent misleading attacks by some of my potential opponents regarding my lone vote against the USA PATRIOT Act. As a part of my campaign's "Truthwatch," I wanted you to hear directly from me why I voted against that flawed bill, and what I'm doing to fix it.

I believe that our number one priority as a nation is to fight terrorism. I supported ninety percent of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, which contained important measures to update law enforcement tools to help in the fight against international terrorism. But I voted against it because certain provisions of the Act represent a very dangerous infringement on our civil liberties.

These provisions would unnecessarily give the government expanded powers to obtain library records, secretly search homes and wiretap the telephones and personal computers of citizens who have no connection to terrorism whatsoever.

It's never fun to be the only person to vote against something, but I don't feel so alone anymore. Conservatives and liberals alike around the country have begun to speak out against the USA PATRIOT Act. More than 275 cities across American have passed resolutions condemning provisions of the Act, and even the Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted last year to prevent the government from using some of the PATRIOT Act's worst provisions, which undermine our civil liberties.

In the U.S. Senate, along with vary conservative Republican Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo of Idaho, and John Sununu of New Hampshire, I have cosponsored the SAFE Act, that would roll back many of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that go too far.

We must focus our efforts on the fight against terror while also protecting the very liberties that make us Americans. Thank you for taking the time to listen.