Bipartisan Senate Stall of Patriot Act Renewal
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 14 of the 16 expiring provisions are extended or made permanent. In fact, when the USA Patriot Act was hurriedly passed in 2001 just months after the 9/11 attack, that voluminous legislation was printed the night before the vote, and no legislator had time to either read or digest its contents.
According to AP, "Senate Democrats joined by some libertarian-leaning Republicans want to extend the expiring provisions of the law by three months to give Congress time to add more protections against what they say are excessive police powers.'There's no reason to compromise right to due process, the right to a judicial review, fair and reasonable standards of evidence in the pursuit of our security,' said Sen. John E. Sununu (R-NH), one of several senators urging Congress to move the expiration date to March 31. "
More than 90% of the Patriot Act would remain in force even if the House-Senate "compromise agreement" to renew the expiring provisions fails.
"I think we should tread very, very cautiously and slowly," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
As I write this, the Senate had not made a final decision on the fate of this bill. However, AP is reporting this afternoon that Senate majority Leader Bill Frist is "preparing to bring up his own legislation to extend the current Patriot Act for a year, according to a senior Frist aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been made."
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