House, Senate Extend Patriot Act Provisions
The House unanimously extended the Patriot Act until Feb. 3. The Senate Wed. evening approved a 6-month extension of the antiterror law. The temporary renewal (S-2167), which prevents certain high-tech sections of the law from expiring Dec. 31, passed on a voice vote.
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With the measure back in the Senate, a spokeswoman for Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Leahy (D- Vt.) said the situation is “still pretty fluid.” The Senate was reconvening at our deadline on Thurs. “Leahy is for taking more time,” she said: “Let’s just try to get this right. If we need to extend again, [we] can revisit.” The length of the extension is less important than the good faith effort needed to improve the law, Leahy said.
House Minority Leader Pelosi (D-Cal.) said Democrats wouldn’t object to Republicans extending the Patriot Act for a month. Like Leahy, Pelosi said she'd have preferred a 3- or 6-month extension to “allow the American people a longer time to discuss the very serious impacts of these provisions” on civil liberties. “The rights of our citizens, as guaranteed by the Constitution, should not be shoe-horned into a tight timeframe,” she said: “We should have the time for a vigorous and thorough debate.” She added that the legislation in question only involves a small portion of the Patriot Act and 90% of that law remains intact, regardless of what happened in the congressional session’s final hours.
The White House wanted Congress to reauthorize the law before recessing for the holidays. President Bush said repeatedly he would not support a short-term extension but late Wed. said he looked forward to continuing to work with Congress to reinstate the mandate. Departing the White House Thurs. for Camp David, he said Congress “understands we've got to keep the Patriot Act in place, that we're still under threat, there’s still an enemy that wants to harm us” but didn’t elaborate on either extension period.
Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) called the 6-month extension “a win for America’s safety and security.” Leahy said it was “a commonsense solution that gives the Senate more time to craft a consensus bill that will promote our security while preserving our freedom.” He said it was worth the extra effort to deliver a better bill. Sens. Leahy and Sununu (R-N.H.) led a bipartisan effort in recent weeks to stall Patriot Act reauthorization passage.
“There is no reason why the American people cannot have a Patriot Act that is both effective and that adequately protects their rights and their privacy, and now we have the opportunity to achieve that,” Leahy said. Civil liberties groups cheered the Senate vote. ACLU Washington Legislative Office Dir. Caroline Fredrickson called it “a victory for freedom” and said the senators who agreed to the extension were “true patriots.” She said lawmakers should take then next few months to include changes that secure citizens’ liberties while preserving legitimate law enforcement tools.
Congress must use the time wisely, ACLU Senior Counsel Lisa Graves said, citing revelations that the Administration has endrun the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. “We hope Congress will reinforce the rule of law and insist on judicial approval of the use of these secret powers,” she said. The Center for Democracy & Technology supported the temporary extension.