Patriot Act Restriction Dropped from Spending Bill

-- Library Journal, 11/07/2005

On Friday, negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate dropped the Sanders amendment--language that would restrict searches of library and bookstore records under the USA PATRIOT Act—from the $57.9 billion FY06 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill. Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the leading crusader against the Patriot Act, had seen his amendment pass the House in June by a vote of 238-187. It would have barred the Department of Justice from using any appropriated money to search library and bookstore records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. However, pointed out the American Library Association’s Washington Office, the bill had drawn a veto threat from the White House.