Bush signs parts of Patriot Act II into law -- stealthily

Bush signs parts of Patriot Act II into law ˜ stealthily

Original Publisher: San Antonio Current
O n December 13, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, President George W.
Bush not only celebrated with his national security team, but also pulled out
his pen and signed into law a bill that grants the FBI sweeping new powers. A
White House spokesperson explained the curious timing of the signing - on a
Saturday - as "the President signs bills seven days a week." But the last time
Bush signed a bill into law on a Saturday happened more than a year ago - on a
spending bill that the President needed to sign, to prevent shuttng down the
federal government the following Monday.


By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively
consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere footnote.
Consequently, while most Americans watched as Hussein was probed for head
lice, few were aware that the FBI had just obtained the power to probe their
financial records, even if the feds don't suspect their involvement in crime
or terrorism. The Bush Administration and its Congressional allies tucked away
these new executive powers in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2004, a legislative behemoth that funds all the intelligence activities
of the federal government. The Act included a simple, yet insidious,
redefinition of "financial institution," which previously referred to banks,
but now includes stockbrokers, car dealerships, casinos, credit card
companies, insurance agencies, jewelers, airlines, the U.S. Post Office, and
any other business "whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness
in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters."


Congress passed the legislation around Thanksgiving. Except for U.S.
Representative Charlie Gonzalez, all San Antonio's House members voted for the
act. The Senate passed it with a voice vote to avoid individual
accountability. While broadening the definition of "financial institution,"
the Bush administration is ramping up provisions within the 2001 USA Patriot
Act, which granted the FBI the authority to obtain client records from banks
by merely requesting the records in a "National Security Letter." To get the
records, the FBI doesn't have to appear before a judge, nor demonstrate
"probable cause" - reason to believe that the targeted client is involved in
criminal or terrorist activity. Moreover, the National Security Letters are
attached with a gag order, preventing any financial institution from informing
its clients that their records have been surrendered to the FBI. If a
financial institution breaches the gag order, it faces criminal penalties. Andfinally, the FBI will no longer be required to report to Congress how often they have used the National Security Letters.