Patriot Act Not Reauthorized in the Senate

Senate Rejects Extension of Patriot Act

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Friday rejected attempts to reauthorize several provisions of the USA Patriot Act as infringing too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders.

In a crucial vote early Friday, the bill's Senate supporters were not able to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened filibuster by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote was 52-47.

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But the Patriot Act's critics got a boost from a New York Times report saying Bush authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of people inside the United States. Previously, the NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions and obtained court orders for such investigations.

"I don't want to hear again from the attorney general or anyone on this floor that this government has shown it can be trusted to use the power we give it with restraint and care," said Feingold, the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001.

"It is time to have some checks and balances in this country," shouted Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. "We are more American for doing that."

On the afternoon of 9/11, the following thought crossed my mind for the first and last time:

"Thank God Gore isn't President."

I didn't think this because I thought Gore would have been the wrong man to be in the office at the time. I thought it because I knew that the Republicans would have blamed the Democrats for 9/11 and would never rally around him the way the entire country (including the Democrats in office) rallied around Bush.

Of course I worried about the corollary to this thought only a few days later:

The entire country has rallied around Bush and the Bush Administration/ Republicans will use that to wage war on the world at large and on the civil rights of the citizens at home.

Shortly after 9/11, Congress passed the Patriot Act and Bush signed it into law on October 26, 2001. Some had concerns about it almost immediately, but most were caught up in the fear and turmoil of 9/11. Ever so slowly, however, the tide turned against the act.

Howard Dean has famously said, "You can't trust Republicans with your money," but a growing segment of the populace has also come to the conclusion that you cannot trust Republicans with your civil liberties either.

A movement against the Patriot Act took hold at the grassroots level with more than 400 counties, municipalities and states now having passed resolutions or ordinances of opposition to parts of the act, including Pittsburgh, PA.

From Bush's arm having to be twisted to agree to an anti-torture bill to the very recent revelations that Bush secretly authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the US without court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, the American public is coming to see the Bush Administration for what it is:

Worse than the Nixon Administration.
We congratulate the Senators who voted "nay" and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis) in particular. Feingold was the only senator to vote against the original Patriot Act and he led the fight against it being reauthorized today.

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