Bipartisan Vote Blocks Patriot Act Reauthorization

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MRMIB1947 12/16/2005 9:51:30 PM

Bipartisan Vote Blocks Patriot Act Reauthorization By Caron Carlson

December 16, 2005

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In a bipartisan vote, the U.S. Senate Friday blocked passage of a bill

reauthorizing controversial surveillance provisions of the USA Patriot Act.

Revelations last night that President Bush signed a secret order in 2002

authorizing spying on U.S. citizens without a court order spurred some senators

to reject the bill. The bill would create a four-year extension for provisions

allowing the government to demand that businesses turn over personal records of

customers without showing a link between the records and a suspected foreign

terrorist. American businesses have expressed concern that this requirement is

becoming increasingly costly to comply with and that it poses a growing

potential for liability.

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Are the feds lagging on e-government even as they work to extend the Patriot

Act's reach? Click here to read more. Forty-seven senators rejected a motion

to end debate on the Patriot Act reauthorization and bring it to a vote. The

bill, which the House of Representatives passed Wednesday, represents the work

of a conference committee made up of House and Senate members attempting to

reconcile the two chambers' differing versions of the legislation. Earlier in

the year, the Senate unanimously passed an extension of the Patriot Act that

included several check and balances on the government's growing domestic

surveillance powers, but those protections were eliminated by the conference

committee. Following passage of the conference bill by the House, a bipartisan

coalition of six senators, led by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sununu,

R-N.H., vowed to block the bill out of concern for civil liberties. A news

report Thursday night by the New York Times revealing that in

2002 Bush signed a secret executive order authorizing the National Security

Agency to monitor the e-mail, phone calls and other communications of U.S.

citizens in the United States without a court order prompted senators to press

strenuously for more civil liberties protections. " I went to bed last night

unsure how to vote on this legislation, " said Sen. Schumer, D-N.Y.

" Today's revelation that the government listened in on hundreds of phone

conversations without getting a warrant is shocking. There ought to be

discussion. There ought to be debate. " Calling the secret order an example of

" Big Brother run amok, " Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said that more oversight of

police powers is needed. " For past three years this administration has been

eavesdropping on hundreds of calls without warrants or oversight, " Kennedy said.

" This administration feels it is above the law. " Defending parties in the

administration who prompted Bush to suspend elements of the spying

authorized by the secret order, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said that the

Judiciary Committee will conduct oversight next year. Specter argued that

misperception of the Patriot Act reauthorization confused the debate. " This

bill is not understood by senators making statements, " Specter said. " They don't

know the bill. " Some of the bill's proponents said that those who blocked it

would be responsible for permitting important police powers to expire. " God

help us if there's some kind of terrorist attack when we are not protected by

the Patriot Act. We will have to answer to that, " said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. " If

you vote against cloture, you are voting to allow the Patriot Act to expire. "

Senators seeking more time to negotiate the bill dismissed the threat. " It is

shameful to threaten that that is what will happen if the Senate doesn't pass

the conference report, " said Feingold . " Now is not the time for brinksmanship

or threats. " Proponents of the bill also held out the

threat of future terrorist attacks to encourage passage. Click here to read

more about the Patriot Act II. " The Patriot Act expires on Dec. 31, but the

terrorist threat does not, " said Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn. " Do we retreat to the

days before 911 when terrorists slipped through the cracks? A vote against the

Patriot Act amounts to defeat and retreat at home. " Senators who blocked the

bill are seeking a three-month extension of the Patriot Act to allow time to

negotiate civil liberties protections. " One thing that should unite all of us

is our opposition to terrorism, " Leahy said. " We should reject the concept that

we can have Americans spy on Americans with no checks or balances. " Frist said

that he does not support such an extension and that Bush will veto it. Check

out eWEEK.com's Government Center for the latest news, views and analysis of

technology's impact on government and politics.

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MRMIB1947 12/16/2005 9:51:30 PM

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