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Patriot Act Compromise AnnouncedFour Republican senators who blocked legislation to renew the USA Patriot Act last year over what they said was a lack of protection for civil liberties announced February 9 that they had reached an agreement with the White House on a revised bill. Two key Democrats, Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) and Dianne E. Feinstein (Calif.), also said they would back the bill, making it likely this latest proposal can pass both congressional houses, the New York Times reported February 10.While working out a compromise bill, Congress extended the Patriot Act, 16 provisions of which had been set to expire at the end of 2005, until March 10 through two short-term extensions. The latest compromise gives recipients of Section 215 orders—which facilitate FBI access to business and library records—the right to challenge the gag provision after one year. Also under the proposal, national security letters could no longer be used to obtain records from libraries that function in their traditional capacity, including providing basic internet access, but they could be used to get records from libraries that serve as internet service providers, according to the February 10 Washington Post. Sen. Durbin said while the new measure “falls far short” of the Senate version passed last year, “if you measure it against the original Patriot Act . . . we’ve made progress” toward “protecting basic civil liberties at a time when we are dealing with the war on terrorism.” However, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who led the December filibuster, said he would fight this latest compromise as well. “These changes do not address the major problems with the Patriot Act that a bipartisan coalition has been trying to fix for the past several years,” he stated. “We appreciate the supporters from both sides of the aisle who tried to properly balance the civil liberties concerns,” said American Library Association Washington Office Executive Director Emily Sheketoff. “Unfortunately, the White House prevailed and the Senators who negotiated this bill were unable to address the very real concerns in Section 215—the standard for its use and the ability to meaningfully challenge these orders in a court of law.” The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement February 9 criticizing the deal. “Unfortunately, the proposed changes to the reauthorization bill do not correct the secret record search powers and do not require that there be any individualized suspicion of wrongdoing by Americans before their financial, medical, library, or other records can be searched,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. Posted February 10, 2006. |
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