The compromise between the White House and Senate skeptics over three contested provisions of the Patriot Act virtually ensures the anti-terror law will soon be renewed by Congress.
We’d like to see the Senate hold fast to changes it approved last year – providing law enforcement with necessary tools to protect the public, while affording citizens with basic protections from intrusive government. The compromise contains more protections than the original law passed hastily after the 2001 terrorist attacks, and it’s an improvement over the draft drawn up with House conferees before the Bush administration saw the writing on the wall.
Under the agreement reached last week, businesses subpoenaed for medical, financial and other private records in terror investigations would have the right to challenge a requirement that they not tell anyone, but only after a year.
“We’ve always said that you ought to allow citizens to appeal that [gag order] before a judge,” said Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., one of those who negotiated the compromise.
“We suggested a 90-day waiting period. This has a one-year waiting period, but it’s important to have the process and the principle in place.”
That’s true, but it means that an American who becomes the subject of a secret subpoena would not be able to challenge it until well after the fact.
Another compromise drops the requirement that anyone who receives a secret government demand for phone, Internet and business records (in what is known as a National Security Letter) must disclose their lawyer’s name to the FBI.
But the agreement did not deal with the government’s broad authority to review records without showing a connection between the person under investigation and a terrorist organization. The records only need to be “relevant” to an investigation, which hardly seems adequate to protect against government fishing expeditions.
The compromise sought to clarify that only libraries that are “electronic service providers” would be required to turn over information to the government in terror investigations. Some interpreted that to mean that libraries that simply provide patrons access to the Internet would not have to hand over their records. Others are still unsure what it means.
If there’s a positive note, it’s that the new provisions have a four-year sunset, far better than the permanent extension once sought by the White House. During that period, lawmakers must closely monitor implementation of the act.
