UPDATE: The Patriot Act won congressional reauthorization in March 2006.
Fighting for the survival of its mainline terror-fighting law, the U.S. Department of Justice has informed the U.S. Senate of what it calls “significant civil liberties safeguards” added to the latest version of the USA Patriot Act.
Unless the Senate acts to extend them, 16 key provisions of the Patriot Act will expire on December 31, 2005.
Passed in the tumultuous days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Patriot Act has come under constant criticism for going too far in allowing the government to infringe on the rights, freedom and privacy of individuals. The Bush administration has consistently countered that the provisions of the Act are necessary to protect the people from future terrorist attacks, and that the law adequately protects civil liberties.
While the bill to extend the Patriot Act passed in the House of Representatives, it stalled in the Senate, when it was disclosed that President Bush had authorized the non-court ordered electronic surveillance of persons suspected of terrorist activity. Four years ago, the Senate approved the original Patriot Act by a vote of 98-1.
According to the Department of Justice, the Patriot Act has a four-year track record with no verified civil liberties abuses, and the version of the Act now before the Senate contains “more than 30 new significant civil liberties safeguards,” including:
