House Voters to Limit PATRIOT Act Rules

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: June 16, 2005 1:18:31 AM EDT
To: JMG <johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com>
Cc: Dave <dave () farber net>
Subject: [johnmacsgroup] House Voters to Limit PATRIOT Act Rules
Reply-To: johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com


http://tinyurl.com/dor8s

House Votes to Limit Patriot Act Rules
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 2 minutes ago


In a slap at President Bush, lawmakers voted Wednesday to block the
Justice Department and the FBI from using the Patriot Act to peek at
library records and bookstore sales slips.

The House voted 238-187 despite a veto threat from Bush to block the
part of the anti-terrorism law that allows the government to investigate
the reading habits of terror suspects.

The vote reversed a narrow loss last year by lawmakers concerned about
the potential invasion of privacy of innocent library users. They
narrowed the proposal this year to permit the government to continue to
seek out records of Internet use at libraries.

The vote came as the House debated a $57.5 billion bill covering the
departments of Commerce, Justice and State. The Senate has yet to act on
the measure, and GOP leaders often drop provisions offensive to Bush
during final negotiations.

"This is a tremendous victory that restores important constitutional
rights to the American people," said Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., the sponsor
of the measure. He said the vote would help "rein in an administration
intent on chipping away at the very civil liberties that define us as a
nation."

Congress is preparing to extend the Patriot Act, which was passed
quickly in the emotional aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks. Then, Congress included a sunset provision under which 15 of
the law's provisions are to expire at the end of this year.

Supporters of rolling back the library and bookstore provision said that
the law gives the FBI too much leeway to go on fishing expeditions on
people's reading habits and that innocent people could get tagged as
potential terrorists based on what they check out from a library.

"If the government suspects someone is looking up how to make atom
bombs, go to a court and get a search warrant," said Jerold Nadler,
D-N.Y.

Supporters of the Patriot Act countered that the rules on reading
records are a potentially useful tool in finding terrorists and argued
that the House was voting to make libraries safe havens for them.

"If there are terrorists in libraries studying how to fly planes, how to
put together biological weapons, how to put together chemical weapons,
nuclear weapons ... we have to have an avenue through the federal court
system so that we can stop the attack before it occurs," said Rep. Tom
Feeney (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla.

Last year, a similar provision was derailed by a 210-210 tie after
several Republicans were pressured to switch votes.

In the meantime, a number of libraries have begun disposing of patrons'
records quickly so they won't be available if sought under the law.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress in April that the
government has never used the provision to obtain library, bookstore,
medical or gun sale records.

But when asked whether the administration would agree to exclude library
and medical records from the law, Gonzales demurred. "It should not be
held against us that we have exercised restraint," he said.

Authorities have gained access to records through voluntary cooperation
from librarians, Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller said.





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