House votes to extend Patriot Act

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

I didn't see this posted yet...


July 22, 2005

BY GLEN JOHNSON
WASHINGTON -- The House voted Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, the nation's main anti-terrorism tool, just hours after televisions in the Capitol beamed images of a new attack in London.

As similar legislation worked its way through the Senate, House Republicans generally cast the law as a valuable asset in the war on terror. Most Democrats echoed that support but said they were concerned the law could allow citizens' civil liberties to be infringed.

After more than nine hours of debate, the House approved the measure 257-171. Forty-three Democrats joined 214 Republicans in voting to renew key provisions of the Patriot Act that were set to expire at the end of the year.

'The threat has not receded'

The bulk of the back-and-forth centered on language making permanent 14 of 16 provisions that had four-year sunset provisions under the original law, which Congress passed overwhelmingly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The bill has 10-year extensions to the two other provisions set to expire on Dec. 31, one allowing roving wiretaps and another allowing searches of library and medical records.

''While the Patriot Act and other anti-terrorism initiatives have helped avert additional attacks on our soil, the threat has not receded,'' said Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the top Democrat on the panel, said he backed the majority of Patriot Act provisions but feared the extensions could lessen accountability. ''Ten years is not a sunset; 10 years is semi-permanent,'' he said.

President Bush hailed the vote.

''The Patriot Act is a key part of our efforts to combat terrorism and protect the American people, and the Congress needs to send me a bill soon that renews the act without weakening our ability to fight terror,'' Bush said in a statement released by the White House.

As the House debated the bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved its own extension of the act, though it included only four-year extensions for the roving wiretap and records search provisions.

A competing bill also has been approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which would give the FBI expanded powers to subpoena records without the approval of a judge or grand jury. That ensured further Senate talks on the terrorism-fighting measure. The House legislation will also have to be reconciled with whatever emerges from the Senate. AP

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you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[ViperPilot 0]

I say good on the House. At least it'll help somewhat.

[base283 0]

I am glad I don´t live at home.
take care,
space

[ViperPilot 0]

Eh, they can read my email, screen my calls. I really don't care. What's there to care if you don't have anything to hide? That's my take.

[rasmack 0]

So, you'd be perfectly happy with them setting up little cameras in your bedroom too? What about little heart rate monitors to check if your heart rate goes up when you see a cop? Come on. You don't have anything to hide, do you?

Insert any smiley of your choice in the above text:

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[feuergnom 29]

maybe you think you have got nothing to hide. but who defines the standards? you or your government? maybe you are breaking laws you don't know exist....

The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle

dudeist skydiver # 666