Patriot Act Negotiations on Hold as Senators Criticize Deal

-- Library Journal, 11/22/2005

The tentative deal regarding the USA Patriot Act was stalled last Friday, as a coalition of both liberal and conservative Senators threatened a filibuster to block it. Instead, negotiators will take another look at the compromise "sunset clause" regarding Patriot Act provisions; the deal included a provision that requires review in seven years, rather than the four-year "sunset clause" favored by the Senate, but less than the ten-year period favored by the House of Representatives. However, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) told the Chicago Tribune, "On issues as important as the civil liberties of fellow American citizens, you review it and review it on a constant basis, no matter who is in the White House or who is in the Justice Department." Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) said, "My concerns go way beyond the sunset. We should not allow even four more years of the violation of people's rights with regard to their business and library records when they have done absolutely nothing wrong."

Meanwhile, some major newspapers, in editorials, urged caution regarding the Patriot Act. Noting that a bipartisan group of six Senators "demanded that House and Senate negotiators produce a reauthorization bill with more of the safeguards that the Senate had approved earlier this year," the Los Angeles Times observed that "the bill should do away with the automatic, permanent gag orders that allow investigators to hide forever their demands for records from banks, libraries, doctors and other sources. And the most controversial provisions of the Patriot Act should be extended for a much shorter period than the seven years suggested by House and Senate conferees." Added the New York Times, "There is nothing 'patriotic' about letting the F.B.I. seize the records of ordinary Americans without a judge's approval." Both newspapers reminded readers that the Patriot Act was passed with little Congressional debate after the 9/11 attacks.