Senate votes to extend Patriot Act

Senate votes to extend Patriot Act

Democrats retreat from adding new privacy protections to the law

AP

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Wednesday to extend for a year key provisions of the nation's counterterrorism surveillance law that are scheduled to expire at the end of the month.

In agreeing to pass the bill, Senate Democrats retreated from adding new privacy protections to the USA Patriot Act.

The Senate approved the bill on a voice vote with no debate. It now goes to the House.
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Three important sections of the Patriot Act are to expire at the end of this month.

One authorizes court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones. A second allows court-approved seizure of records and property in anti-terrorism operations. A third permits surveillance against a so-called lone wolf, a non-U.S. citizen suspected of engaging in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.

Supporters say extending the law enables authorities to keep important tools in the fight against terrorism. It would also give Democrats some cover from Republican criticism that the Obama administration is soft on terrorism. Republicans have criticized the administration for trying terrorist suspects in civilians courts, rather than military ones, and for trying to close the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Some Democrats, however, had to forfeit new privacy protections they had sought for the law.

The Judiciary Committee bill would have restricted FBI information demands known as national security letters and made it easier to challenge gag orders imposed on Americans whose records are seized. Library records would have received extra protections. Congress would have closely scrutinized FBI use of the law to prevent abuses. Dissemination of surveillance results would have been restricted and after a time, unneeded records would have been destroyed.

"I would have preferred to add oversight and judicial review improvements to any extension of expiring provisions in the USA Patriot Act," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "But I understand some Republican senators objected."

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Comment by truth on February 26, 2010 at 2:05am: USA Patriot Act Continued

By Scott_Bridwell - Last updated: Thursday, February 25, 2010 - Save & Share - 4 Comments

GWB the USA Patriot Act President, if he only had a brain!

Barely noticed this one and I think that was by design. I heard a very brief mention of this on CNN this morning and by brief I mean seconds. The best source I found was via the Main Justice website, which apparently is an independent news organization that “covers insider news about the U.S. Department of Justice”. Team Controlled Media also covered it, sort of, in the below Washington Post article. Note the differences between those two articles.
Last night, Wednesday February 25, in a voice-vote the U.S. Senate passed without debate, an extension to some of the provisions within the USA Patriot Act that were set to expire on Sunday. Still has to go to the House but given the pending expiration this weekend, it should quickly pass the House too. Most of us have been watching the Patriot Act since President George W. Bush signed it into law in late 2001. The country was still in shock about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks so it passed through Congress quickly.

Put concisely, the USA Patriot Act is not good for USA patriots (a.k.a we the people with dissident voices). I am not going to bore anyone with a rehash of any of that but anytime the US government (Executive, Legislative, Judiciary branches) does anything with the USA Patriot Act you should pay attention. So as the resident “angry white man”, here is what I see.

Looking at the Main Justice article we can more clearly see what is entailed when Team Controlled Media discusses “provisions” in the USA Patriot Act.
Main Justice article

“The bill would keep in place the Patriot Act’s “lone wolf,” , business records and “roving wiretap” powers until Feb. 28, 2011. The House has yet to consider the measure.”

There are two items that caught my attention. I think on the surface these may not alarm others but you need to understand the ramifications. You need to think them through beyond a brief literal interpretation.

First, on the “Lone Wolf” provision, don’t be fooled by language about “only to non-U.S. persons” because we are talking about the governmental authority to “track a target without any discernible affiliation” to terrorist group. In a “track a target” scenario, do you really think tracking/surveillance stops as soon as the “non-U.S. person” comes in contact with a U.S. person? But it is the “without any discernible affiliation” that should really causes concern. Do you think the Founding Fathers had this in mind when they established the civil liberties they tried to guarantee?

Secondly, the “Roving wiretap” provision is even more obtrusive to our civil liberties. When you officially allow the government to monitor phone lines and internet activity that a “terrorism suspect may be using, regardless of whether others who are not suspects also regularly use” these phone lines or internet, is dangerous. If you cannot see the open-ended loop holes of this provision you should read it more carefully. Again, do you think the Founding Fathers had this in mind when they tried to guarantee Americans civil liberties?

Main Justice article

- Lone wolf: Allows the government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision applies only to non-U.S. persons. The government has never used it.

- Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, regardless of whether others who are not suspects also regularly use them.

No, this is not new news. We have known about these USA Patriot Act attacks on our civil liberties since they were originally established. No, we are not opposed to fighting terrorism on domestic soil. And No, the Founding Fathers probably did not predict US citizens would be targeted by these “terrorism suspects” on domestic soil. Nor did they know the extent to which the US government would go to put all Americans in jeopardy of these attacks.

But what our Founding Fathers did do is try to prevent the foreign policy disaster we now have in place. They also tried to guarantee we the American people would vigilantly fight to maintain the civil liberties they set up. Our Founding Fathers also knew all too well what certain influences could and would do to our country.

Click here for original Main Justice article

Click here for original Washington Post article