Patriot Act Passes House With Wiretap Authority -- a Week After It Was Rejected

Tom Diemer

Politics Daily

 

What a difference a week makes. House Republican leaders lowered the bar and won approval for extension of the Patriot Act -- complete with its "roving wiretaps" provision -- one week after the bill was rejected by the same body.

The difference: This time the bill, which passed on 275-144 vote Monday, needed only a simple majority to advance -- not the two-thirds super-majority required last week when House Speaker John Boehner attempted to zip it through on a fast-track procedure.

It authorizes the FBI to use move wiretaps around on investigative targets without getting multiple court orders, gives the government access to tangible items such as library records in certain international terrorism cases, and allows surveillance of "lone wolf" suspects not linked to any specific terrorist group.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a leading critic, said the three surveillance provisions, approved in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, "were given sunsets in recognition of their far-reaching and unprecedented powers." The law, he said, effectively allows government to carry out "domestic surveillance and demand material from people not connected to any terrorism investigation, including librarians and peace groups. Yet [the surveillance sections] have been extended . . . without any reform."

Boehner, making sure the controversial measure went through all of its readings and other regimens, found the votes he needed Monday night, with 65 Democrats joining with most Republicans, the Washington Post reported.

Democratic opponents had tried to kick the bill back to the House Judiciary Committee to add language assuring that intelligence probes of U.S. citizens are conducted "in a manner that complies with the Constitution of the United States." That motion failed, although it got the support from two Republicans: Reps. Ron Paul of Texas and Walter Jones of North Carolina. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

 

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House Passes Patriot Act Extensions

Move to extend surveillance powers passes 275-144

By Rob Quinn

Feb 15, 2011

(Newser) – The House of Representatives has voted 275-144 to extend three key provisions of the Patriot Act until the end of the year. The measures—which would keep in place surveillance powers including counterterrorism officials' ability to conduct roving wiretap surveillance of targets—were slammed as "intrusive" and "unconstitutional" by opposing lawmakers, CNN reports.

"I believe the American people have a legitimate fear of out-of-control government," said conservative Republican Dana Rohrabacher, one of 27 GOP politicians who voted against the measure. "And yes, they have a legitimate fear of out-of-control prosecutors and out-of-control spy networks." The move follows a failed attempt to gain a two-thirds majority to save the law last week. The provisions will expire at the end of this month unless the Senate also agrees to an extension.

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House Passes Patriot Act Extension

Feb 14 2011

(NewsCore) - They tried last week and failed. Now it is good to go.

The House of Representatives Monday night approved a nine-month extension of the Patriot Act after rejecting the same proposal a week ago.

What is strange is that an overwhelming number of lawmakers voted in favor of the renewal last week. But House Republicans brought the measure to the floor under a procedure that requires two thirds of those voting to be in favor of a bill for it to pass. Last week, 277 lawmakers voted "yea." But that fell just short of the required two-thirds threshold.

Finding a supermajority wasn't a problem Monday night as the House considered the bill under regular rules that mandate just a simple majority for passage.

This bill cruised to approval, 275 to 144.

Last week's vote surprised many lawmakers, with some not even aware the House was considering it under special, expedited rules.

"Clearly we wanted to see the bill passed," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) when asked to defend his method of summoning the Patriot Act renewal to the floor last week.

Lawmakers crafted the Patriot Act in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Patriot Act extensions deal with special "roving" wiretaps, which allow law enforcement officials to use one search warrant to monitor a suspect's calls, even if he or she skips from phone to phone. Traditional search warrants only apply to a single telephone line. The bill also grants anti-terrorism officials the authority to search library records.

The Senate still has to act before the bill expires in a few weeks.

 

 
 

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