In Tact Patriot Act: The House Votes to Make the Controversial Bill Permanent

On July 21, 2005, the House of Representatives voted to make permanent most of the 16 provisions of The Patriot Act that are up for reconsideration. The Senate Judiciary Committee did the same, but the Senate and House versions of the bill are different enough to continue the debate on the balance between security and liberty.

In the House

The House decided 257-151 to make permanent 14 of the expiring provisions and to place 10-year expirations or, sunset dates on the remaining two. These two sections permit roving wiretaps of terrorist suspects and allow business records to be searched in terrorism cases.

The White House is against any sunset period. But overall the Bush administration is happy with the House bill, which keeps the Patriot Act in tact.

The House did add amendments, but most of the changes were "cosmetic," critics said.

For example, the House voted to require the approval of the FBI director for bookstore and library records and to oblige law enforcement officials to notify a judge within 15 days of placing a new roving wiretap.

More far-reaching amendments, such as an amendment that would altogether prohibit the Justice Department from obtaining bookstore and library records, were rejected by the House Rules Committee. Many House members were outraged by the Committee’s refusal of at least 27 amendments, many of them offered by Democrats.

The Rules Committee’s elimination of over half of the proposed amendments illustrates the importance of the committee process and the power of a single committee to shape a debate.

In the Senate

The Senate Judiciary Committee worked into the wee hours of Friday morning to come to a compromise on its version of the bill, eventually passing it 18-0, a milestone for the famously partisan committee.

On the surface, the Senate version looks a lot like the House bill, but there are some important deviations:

• The House version places 10-year sunsets on two provisions that allow for roving wiretaps and business record searches. The Senate version creates 4-year sunsets on these sections.
• The Senate bill requires law enforcement agents to demonstrate "reasonable grounds" that business records sought are directly related to a terrorism investigation.
• The Senate version requires the FBI director to sign off on searches of medical records, gun sales receipts, as well as library and bookseller records.
• The Senate measure requires the FBI to notify suspects more quickly. Currently, law enforcement agents can get search warrants secretly and take their time in informing suspects that they are being watched.

Senators on both sides of the aisle are interested in further tightening the law, requiring more oversight and limiting the authority of law enforcement.

Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is in favor of making temporary the entire Patriot Act, saying that many Americans are nervous about the law’s effect on their civil rights.

Others, like House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), say that temporary or, sunset provisions don’t provide true oversight. He believes that Congress must be more diligent in its supervision of law enforcement agencies.

Still others feel that The Patriot Act sacrifices liberty and therefore rewards terrorists. House Member Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) says that "Democracy takes courage. The courage to say to the terrorists, you will not change our way of life."

Does The Patriot Act compromise Democracy? Does it threaten liberty in the name of security? What freedoms are you willing to sacrifice for a more secure nation, if any?

For more on The Patriot Act, click here.

What do you think?

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Update Posted on: 7/24/2005