Patriot ActPATRIOT Act extended by nine months
In a move last Tuesday which surprised the Republican leadership in Congress, 26 Republicans — seven of them freshmen — voted against the extension of the PATRIOT Act, which expires 28 February; the measure was defeated when the Republican leadership attempted to force it through a fast-track procedure that required a two-thirds majority, but the vote — 277 for and 148 against — fell short; the House last night, in 275 to 144 vote under regular procedure, extended the Act by nine month; the extension includes special “roving” wiretaps, which allow law enforcement officials to use one search warrant to monitor a suspect’s calls, even if he or she skips from phone to phone; traditional search warrants only apply to a single telephone line; the Senate is yet to act on the bill
President Bush signs original Patriot Act into law // Source: trutv.com
In a move that surprised the Republican leadership in Congress, the House of Representatives voted down a measure to extend provisions of the PATRIOT Act last week. The measure was defeated when the Republican leadership attempted to force it through a fast-track procedure that required a two-thirds majority.
The final vote, 277 for and 148 against, included 26 Republicans joining 122 Democrats to vote against the extension. Michelle Richardson of the legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said there were “people from both the left and the right” who opposed the Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 because it allowed the government “just too much authority” into citizens’ private lives.
The House of Representatives Monday night approved a nine-month extension of the Patriot Act after rejecting the same proposal a week ago.
Fox News reports that what is strange is that an overwhelming number of lawmakers voted in favor of the renewal last week — but the vote still fell short of the two-third majority required by the fast-track procedure.
Last night, 275 lawmakers voted yea — compared to 277 last Tuesday — but finding a supermajority was not a problem Monday night as the House considered the bill under regular rules that mandate just a simple majority for passage.
This bill cruised to approval, 275 to 144.
“Clearly we wanted to see the bill passed,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) when asked to defend his method of summoning the Patriot Act renewal to the floor last week.
The Patriot Act extensions deal with special “roving” wiretaps, which allow law enforcement officials to use one search warrant to monitor a suspect’s calls, even if he or she skips from phone to phone. Traditional search warrants only apply to a single telephone line. The bill also grants anti-terrorism officials the authority to search library records.
The Senate still has to act before the bill expires in a few weeks.
