US Senate Turns Controversial Patriot Act Permanent

The approval makes permanent 14 of the 16 anti-terrorism provisions of the law, while placing new limitations on the government's use of secret search and surveillance powers, reported the Washington Post.

Under the bill, the two remaining controversial provisions – which allow the government to conduct roving wiretaps and to demand records from institutions like libraries - are to expire in four years unless Congress acts to reauthorize them.

The 16 provisions of the 2001 law, hastily enacted in response to the9 /11 attacks, were due to expire at the end of this year unless renewed by Congress.

The House agreed last week that the two clauses would be renewed for10 years instead of being made permanent.

While the House and Senate bills are not identical, the differences are modest enough that Congressional officials were confident they could work out a compromise, said the daily.

Differences must be reconciled before a final measure can be sent to President George Bush to sign it into law.

"We are confident Congress will ultimately send the president a bill that does not undermine the ability of investigators and prosecutors to disrupt terrorist plots and combat terrorism effectively," Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos told Reuters.

The Bush administration campaigned heavily for total renewal of the law and opposed efforts to enact any new restrictions on government powers.

Cautious Welcome

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) cautiously welcomed the new restrictions introduced by the Senate on the government’s powers, the Post said.

"We think this is a positive step and puts in place significant restrictions over the current law," said Timothy Edgar, legislative counsel for the ACLU.

"It doesn't fully safeguard constitutional freedoms, but it's a significant improvement," he maintained.

The restrictions include a higher standard of proof for the government in demanding library and business records, greater judicial oversight and increased reporting to Congress on anti-terror operations, time restrictions on the use of secret searches, and limits on roving wiretaps.

The original act allowed expanded surveillance of terror suspects and gave the government the ability to go to a secret court to seize the personal records of suspects from bookstores, libraries, businesses, hospitals and other organizations.

Lisa Graves, the ACLU's senior counsel for legislative strategy, said the group is pleased that the Senate bill does not include other measures that had been considered by lawmakers, including giving the FBI the power to issue administrative subpoenas without a judge's approval in terrorism probes, reported The New York Times.

She also said the Senate version is "vastly better" than the House's.

But Graves said the ACLU "was unable to endorse the final bill" because of remaining objections.

She urged lawmakers to view the legislation as a "starting point" to larger changes.

Unconstitutional

The Senate voting on the bill coincided with a verdict by a federal judge who ruled, for the second time, that several provisions of the Patriot Act and related laws are unconstitutional.

A 42 -page verdict issued in Los Angeles by US District Judge Audrey B. Collins found that that several terms in the Patriot Act and other related laws are "impermissibly vague" and violate the Fifth Amendment.

The UN Human Rights Committee also called on the US to submit a special report by October on its anti-terror measures, following repeated delays by Washington .

Committee Chairwoman Catherine Chanet said a letter was sent to the Bush administration calling for the submission later this year, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The UN Committee wants to hold a full hearing on the issue in March2006 .

The move followed at least three successive postponements by the US since last December, in response to the panel's original request one year ago.

The ACLU and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on June 27 that scores of US-based Muslim men were locked up by the US government without charge under the Patriot Act.

London-based Amnesty International has further said that racial profiling by US law enforcement agencies has grown to cover one in nine Americans, mostly targeting Muslims and Arabs.

And a May 2004 report by the US Senate Office Of Research concluded that Arab Americans and the Muslim minority have taken the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9 / 11attacks.

http://islamonline.net/English/News/2005-07/30/article05.shtml