Senate Rejects Extension of Patriot
Act
Yahoo News/AP
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
December 16, 2005
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Friday refused to reauthorize major portions of
the USA Patriot Act after critics complained they infringed too much on
Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush
administration and Republican leaders.
In a crucial vote early Friday, the bill's Senate supporters were not able
to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened filibuster by Sens. Russ
Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote
was 52-47.
President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Republicans
congressional leaders had lobbied fiercely to make most of the expiring Patriot
Act provisions permanent.
They also supported new safeguards and expiration dates to the act's two
most controversial parts: authorization for roving wiretaps, which allow
investigators to monitor multiple devices to keep a target from evading
detection by switching phones or computers; and secret warrants for books,
records and other items from businesses, hospitals and organizations such as
libraries.
Feingold, Craig and other critics said those efforts weren't enough, and
have called for the law to be extended in its present form so they can continue
to try and add more civil liberties safeguards. But Bush, Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker
Dennis Hastert have said they won't accept a short-term extension of the
law.
If a compromise is not reached, the 16 Patriot Act provisions expire on Dec.
31.
Five Republicans voted against the reauthorization: Chuch Hagel of Nebraska,
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Craig and Frist. Two
Democrats voted to extend the provisions: Sens. Tim Johnson of South Dakota and
Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Frist, R-Tenn., changed his vote at the last moment after seeing the critics
would win. He decided to vote with the prevailing side so he could call for a
new vote at any time. He immediately objected to an offer of a short term
extension from Democrats, saying the House won't approve it and the president
won't sign it.
"We have more to fear from terrorism than we do from this Patriot Act,"
Frist warned.
If the Patriot Act provisions expire, Republicans say they will place the
blame on Democrats in next year's midterm elections. "In the war on terror, we
cannot afford to be without these vital tools for a single moment," White House
press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The time for Democrats to stop standing
in the way has come."
But the Patriot Act's critics got a boost from a New York Times report
saying Bush authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the
international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds — perhaps
thousands — of people inside the United States. Previously, the NSA
typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions
and obtained court orders for such investigations.
"I don't want to hear again from the attorney general or anyone on this
floor that this government has shown it can be trusted to use the power we give
it with restraint and care," said Feingold, the only senator to vote against
the Patriot Act in 2001.
"It is time to have some checks and balances in this country," shouted Sen.
Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary
Committee. "We are more American for doing that."
Most of the Patriot Act — which expanded the government's surveillance
and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and
financiers — was made permanent when Congress overwhelmingly passed it
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. Making
the rest of it permanent was a priority for both the Bush administration and
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill before Congress adjourns for the year.
The House on Wednesday passed a House-Senate compromise bill to renew the
expiring portions of the Patriot Act that supporters say added significant
safeguards to the law. Its Senate supporters say that compromise is the only
thing that has a chance to pass Congress before 2006.
"This is a defining moment. There are no more compromises to be made, no
more extensions of time. The bill is what it is," said Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio,
voting record), R-Ariz.
The bill's opponents say the original act was rushed into law, and Congress
should take more time now to make sure the rights of innocent Americans are
safeguarded before making the expiring provisions permanent.
"Those that would give up essential liberties in pursuit in a little
temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security," said Sen. John Sununu
(news, bio, voting record), R-N.H. They suggested a short extension so
negotiations could continue, but the Senate scrapped a Democratic-led effort to
renew the USA Patriot Act for just three months before the vote began.
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