Bipartisan Coalition Blocks Patriot Act Renewal
Civil libertarian Republicans broke ranks on Friday, joining 40 Democrats and one Independent to give President Bush a significant legislative black eye when a filibuster successfully blocked renewal of the White House orchestrated "compromise" Patriot Act. Sixteen provisions are scheduled to sunset on 31 December. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) lost the vote to end the filibuster, 52 to 47. The opposition was led by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), the only senator to vote against the original bill in 2001.
This was the second setback for the Administration in successive days. On Thursday, Bush retreated on torture, adopting Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) language prohibiting torture. For months, the White House had threatened to veto legislation with McCain's language.
Opponents to the Patriot Act bill as it emerged from conference were given a boost Thursday, when the New York Times reported that "President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans to search for evidence of terrorist activity -- without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying," according to Congressional Quarterly. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) pledged to hold hearings in 2006, saying "there is no doubt that this is inappropriate."
Fiengold said, "I don't want to hear again from the attorney general or anyone on this floor that this government has shown it can be trusted to use the power we give it with restraint and care." The attorney general had been lobbying heavily for the Administration-brokered conference bill.
At issue are provisions allowing the FBI access to personal information without a warrant, through the use of "National Security Letters," as well as a broad definition of terrorism that could include traditional acts of civil disobedience.
"The fact that Congress wasn't aware that the FBI has used some 30,000 national security letters over the past few years is an indication that not enough oversight has been done," says Tim Lynch, director of the CATO Institute's project on criminal justice. "The money-laundering sections of the Patriot Act require scores of businesses to track the transactions of their customers and report to the government. It's an aspect of the Patriot Act that doesn't get much attention, but it should. This has huge implications for people's privacy."According to Forbes:
The practical implications of an expiration of the original law remained somewhat clouded. James Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said law enforcement agencies could continue using Patriot Act provisions against all known terrorist groups such as al-Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Zarqawi group in Iraq. He said even newly discovered members of these groups would be subject to Patriot Act investigative tools.
However, Republicans framed the effect of the filibuster in more catastrophic terms. Frist compared the coalition Senators with Americans who "have called for a retreat and defeat strategy in Iraq. That's the wrong strategy in Iraq. It is the wrong strategy here at home." In rebuttal, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said, "This is now on the shoulders of Sen. Frist and the Republican leadership. If it expires, it's their decision to let it expire."
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