PATRIOT ACT

day

They are laying the groundwork for a frightening future.WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Roving wiretaps and the ability to peek into private medical records are among the provisions of the anti-terror Patriot Act that will remain intact if the Senate follows the House lead on the bill.By a 251-174 vote Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to renew 16 of the act's provisions that were set to expire at year's end. The bill now heads back to the Senate, where a fiercer battle is expected."The Patriot Act is essential to fighting the war on terror and preventing our enemies from striking America again," President Bush said in a statement praising the House vote. "In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment."Among the provisions the House proposes to extend is one allowing the FBI, with a court order, to place wiretaps on every phone a suspect uses -- a procedure called a roving wiretap -- and another permitting the agency to obtain personal records, including medical documents and library activity.With Senate approval, these investigative tools would be available to the FBI for another four years. The majority of the act, however, has no expiration date.Civil liberty advocates have inspired changes to some of the act's provisions that they consider troubling, namely one that allows authorities to obtain warrants and search suspects' homes without telling them, if it would jeopardize an ongoing investigation. (Watch some provisions that worry privacy advocates -- 2:03)Under the bill passed Wednesday, subjects of search warrants would have to be notified within 30 days, but authorities are allowed to ask for extensions.The bill also changes the rules surrounding National Security Letters, which the FBI has increasingly used in the past few years to request a variety of personal information, including financial, phone and Internet records.The letters have been criticized because of the secrecy surrounding them, but if the bill's changes become law, the U.S. Department of Justice will have to divulge how often they are used and perform audits of their use.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff are among those lobbying Congress to pass the reauthorization bill, saying it is essential to fighting terrorism.In an opinion piece in The Washington Post on Wednesday, Gonzales emphasized the need for urgency in passing the bill "before the men and women in law enforcement lose the tools they need to keep us safe."But a bipartisan group of nine senators is rejecting the call to pass the bill swiftly and wants to garner support for a three-month extension to allow negotiators to craft a new bill."It is not too late to remedy the problems with the conference report," states a letter from the senators urging their colleagues to vote against halting debate when the bill reaches the floor.Gonzales this week joined Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in rejecting the idea of reopening negotiations or temporarily extending the bill. Sensenbrenner said the present proposal should be ratified or the expiring provisions and changes to the bill will die.Another proponent of the bill, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, said that he was opposed to "a short-term extension," according to The Associated Press.GOP consensus is not a given, though, as four Republican senators, including Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, have already indicated their opposition to the bill, and Sununu said the foursome has secured "a bit more support."Also looking for support is Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, who was the only senator to vote against the original Patriot Act in 2001. He has called the House bill "a major disappointment" and vowed to do everything he can, including filibuster, to stop the bill's passage.Feingold made his comments after Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, announced last week that House and Senate negotiators had agreed on a version of the Patriot Act that Spector said found a balance between national security and civil liberties.Under the compromise, three controversial elements of the act -- including the roving wiretaps and access to personal records -- would be renewed for four years, instead of the House-proposed 10, a deal Specter said wasn't perfect, but better than maintaining the present Patriot Act or having no Patriot Act at all. The bill including those provisions is what the House voted on Wednesday."Merely sunsetting bad law is not adequate," Feingold said. "We need to make substantive changes to the law, and without those changes I am confident there will be strong, bipartisan opposition here in the Senate."Frist told CNN he would not support extending the Patriot Act, unrevised, simply to avoid a filibuster fight.

tripledouble

now how loosely will they be able to define "terrorist"
i know some environmental groups fell under the terrorist banner.
is a terrorist anyone who threatens someone else's property? or someone's profits?

Swayze

a friend of a friend of mine works for a non-profit called bread and roses out of philly. They distribute money to other progressive non-profits and individuals.

i think they are pretty concerned with the amount of funding they get/will be getting because united way has given them a good amount of money to operate from thier grants--but United Way was told to operate under these new Patriot Act bs guidelines.

luck

a friend of a friend of mine works for a non-profit called bread and roses out of philly. They distribute money to other progressive non-profits and individuals.

i think they are pretty concerned with the amount of funding they get/will be getting because united way has given them a good amount of money to operate from thier grants--but United Way was told to operate under these new Patriot Act bs guidelines.

Bread and Roses sound pretty treasonous to me. Time for Hoover and the Black Bags.

PEK

The avoidance of fessin' up to covert torture holding stations throughout the world and transporting 'illegal combatants' through international airspace in order to facilitate this is also disturbing - analagous to sequestering prisoners in Guantanamo Bay versus on American soil to avoid some serious ACLU-styled inquiries/lawsuits...

It's all

BlowFly

Torture is

funky16corners

The avoidance of fessin' up to covert torture holding stations throughout the world and transporting 'illegal combatants' through international airspace in order to facilitate this is also disturbing - analagous to sequestering prisoners in Guantanamo Bay versus on American soil to avoid some serious ACLU-styled inquiries/lawsuits...

It's all

bluesnag

it says that 16 provisions of the act were voted on to be renewed. how many provisions did the original patriot act have? and if there were more than 16 which ones were not renewed? just looking for something positive.

bull_ox

I didnt' read the article but on NPR last night they were saying repubs may join dems to fillibuster the act as is, unless substantial changes are made...

Mike_Bell

it says that 16 provisions of the act were voted on to be renewed. how many provisions did the original patriot act have?[/b] and if there were more than 16 which ones were not renewed? just looking for something positive.

http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

There's quite a few and I did not feel like counting all of them. I hope this helps, though.

bluesnag

it says that 16 provisions of the act were voted on to be renewed. how many provisions did the original patriot act have?[/b] and if there were more than 16 which ones were not renewed? just looking for something positive.

http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

There's quite a few and I did not feel like counting all of them. I hope this helps, though.

thanks. i can't quite figure out which things in the act are referred to as "provisions" though.

Mike_Bell

it says that 16 provisions of the act were voted on to be renewed. how many provisions did the original patriot act have?[/b] and if there were more than 16 which ones were not renewed? just looking for something positive.

http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

There's quite a few and I did not feel like counting all of them. I hope this helps, though.

thanks. i can't quite figure out which things in the act are referred to as "provisions" though.

You're welcome. Don't take my word on this but I believe the first provision is Sec. 101 and the last one is Sec. 1016. Don't know for sure, but's it's my guess.

dig_this

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Karl Roving wiretaps[/b] and the ability to peek into private medical records are among the provisions of the anti-terror Patriot Act that will remain intact if the Senate follows the House lead on the bill.

"Did you hear what they just said?!? Get Rummy on the line!"