According to Bergman, terrorism and terrorist financing were known to be part of ‘suspicious activity’ however, and the August 2, 2001 supervisory letter clearly called for scrutiny of suspicious activity, which implies and includes the tracking of terrorism activity and financing. The unanswered question on Bergman’s 40 question Q&A asked why the Board had issued the August 2, 2001 letter

Rejecting the suggestion that conservatives must remain silent because Bush is supposedly one of their own, Viguerie says, "Conservatives must not fail to oppose the massive expansion of presidential powers out of fear they will be aid and comfort to the Left. Concern about one branch of government acquiring excessive power should not be the providence of liberals, moderates, or conservatives. It must be the concern of all Americans who value liberty…"

The bill, originally introduced by Rep. Brady Wiseman, states that REAL ID Act would be an unfunded federal mandate of over $2.5 billion dollars on Montana taxpayers while creating a serious danger of identity theft due to the collection of citizens personal information in one centralized, federal database. The legislation goes on to state that REAL ID is a violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution and the principles of American federalism.

Other critics are lambasting federal agencies for not having done enough to stop Speaker. Stop him from what? Getting on a plane when he had broken no law? Do we really want the government to be able to detain someone simply because he may have a disease that is serious but is not a threat to others? Should a citizen's own government be allowed to turn him away at the border as he seeks to re-enter his country, just because someone decided to place him on an advisory "watch list"? I think not.