Someone noticed ...
At least the New York Times has started to pay attention ... although calling USAPATRIOT an "antiterror law" in the headline buys into the mythology.
Senators Threaten to Block Renewal of Antiterror Law
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 - A bipartisan group of senators threatened to derail the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act today, only hours after Congressional negotiators had seemed on the verge of an agreement to extend and keep largely intact its sweeping antiterrorism powers.
"If further changes are not made, we will work to stop this bill from becoming law," three Republicans and three Democrats said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.
The six senators expressed "deep concern" that, as it now stands, the bill does not incorporate changes they believe necessary to prevent excessive government intrusion in personal matters. The six said it is essential that the law "continues to provide law enforcement with the tools to investigate possible terrorist activity while making reasonable changes to the original law to protect innocent people from unnecessasry and intrusive government surveillance." ...
The supposed agreement that came under renewed fire today from the six senators would ensure the extension of all 16 provisions of the law that were set to expire in six weeks. Fourteen would be extended permanently, and the remaining two - dealing with the government's demands for business and library records and its use of roving wiretaps - would be extended for seven years. There would also be a seven-year extension of a separate provision on investigating "lone wolf" terrorists.
That represents a compromise between the versions of the bill passed earlier this year by the House and the Senate. The House had voted to extend the provisions by 10 years, but the Senate moved to extend the powers by four years.
The terms reached by negotiators do include some new restrictions on the government's powers, including greater public reporting and oversight of how often the government is demanding records and using various investigative tools.
Critics at the American Civil Liberties Union and elsewhere called the changes "window dressing" and said that the legislation left out what they considered more meaningful reform in preventing civil rights abuses in terror investigations.
Senators Threaten to Block Renewal of Antiterror Law
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 - A bipartisan group of senators threatened to derail the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act today, only hours after Congressional negotiators had seemed on the verge of an agreement to extend and keep largely intact its sweeping antiterrorism powers.
"If further changes are not made, we will work to stop this bill from becoming law," three Republicans and three Democrats said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.
The six senators expressed "deep concern" that, as it now stands, the bill does not incorporate changes they believe necessary to prevent excessive government intrusion in personal matters. The six said it is essential that the law "continues to provide law enforcement with the tools to investigate possible terrorist activity while making reasonable changes to the original law to protect innocent people from unnecessasry and intrusive government surveillance." ...
The supposed agreement that came under renewed fire today from the six senators would ensure the extension of all 16 provisions of the law that were set to expire in six weeks. Fourteen would be extended permanently, and the remaining two - dealing with the government's demands for business and library records and its use of roving wiretaps - would be extended for seven years. There would also be a seven-year extension of a separate provision on investigating "lone wolf" terrorists.
That represents a compromise between the versions of the bill passed earlier this year by the House and the Senate. The House had voted to extend the provisions by 10 years, but the Senate moved to extend the powers by four years.
The terms reached by negotiators do include some new restrictions on the government's powers, including greater public reporting and oversight of how often the government is demanding records and using various investigative tools.
Critics at the American Civil Liberties Union and elsewhere called the changes "window dressing" and said that the legislation left out what they considered more meaningful reform in preventing civil rights abuses in terror investigations.
posted by B.W. Richardson at
8:07 AM
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