The Hatter
Member
- Feb 1, 2011
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The Week Ahead in Congress -- Renewing the PATRIOT Act - Blog - OpenCongress
Disgusting and Disgraceful.
The House is back in session this week, and they’re kicking off their return with a vote on a bill that seems to be popular with members of Congress, in both parties, but hugely unpopular with just about everyone else — renewing the USA PATRIOT Act. That’s right, the Republicans’ bill to extend a few controversial surveillance programs that are set to expire at the end of this month (see below for explanation) has been rushed to the floor calendar without a single committee hearing or a proper mark-up. As you can see on the schedule below, they are trying to pass it under the suspension of the rules procedure, which means that there will only be 40 minutes of debate allowed and no amendments can be offered.
On February 28, three provisions of the PATRIOT Act are scheduled to expire. They include the authority for “roving” wiretaps that allows the government to monitor computers that may occasionally be used by suspected terrorists, the “tangible records provision” that requires banks, telecoms and libraries to hand over any customer information the government requests without informing the customer, and the “lone wolf” provision allowing the government to track international terrorist groups. The Republicans’ PATRIOT Act extension bill would extend these for one year with no new restrictions or oversight provisions. Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith [R, TX-21], who is forwarding the bill out of his committee and onto the floor for the votes, has called it “a step toward the long-term reauthorization” of the provisions.
Mind you, the Democrats in Congress are generally supportive of extending the PATRIOT Act as well, so you can expect this to sail through the Senate in the next couple weeks. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Pat Leahy [D, VT] has already offered his own bill to extend the provisions (S.193), although with a few more restrictions on how the government can request personal information (i.e. “tangible records”.
Disgusting and Disgraceful.