Washington – The Senate on Wednesday cleared the path for renewing the USA Patriot Act, swatting aside objections while adding new protections for people targeted by government investigations.
The overwhelming votes virtually assured that Congress will renew the anti-terrorism law before it expires March 10.
Final passage by the Senate is expected Friday and by the House on Tuesday.
The law’s opponents, who insisted the new protections were cosmetic, conceded defeat.
“The die has now been cast,” acknowledged the law’s chief opponent, Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., after the Senate voted 84-15 to end his filibuster. “Obviously at this point, final passage of the reauthorization bill is now assured.”
The overwhelming support for the renewal package holds great political value for President Bush, who in 2001 made the act the centerpiece of what has become a troubled war on terrorism.
Wednesday’s vote come after a two-month standoff in which Feingold had succeeded in blocking a House-Senate compromise that would renew 16 major provisions of the law. Unable to overcome his objection before a Dec. 31 expiration date, Congress instead postponed the deadline twice while negotiations continued.
The White House and GOP leaders finally broke the stalemate by crafting a second measure – in effect an amendment to the first – that would somewhat limit the government’s power to compel information from people targeted in terrorism probes.
That second measure passed overwhelmingly earlier in the day, 95-4. Voting “no” with Feingold were Sens. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and the Senate’s constitutional expert, Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.
The second measure added new protections to the 2001 anti-terror law in three areas:
Give recipients of court-approved subpoenas for information in terrorism investigations the right to challenge a requirement that they refrain from telling anyone.
Eliminate a requirement that an individual provide the FBI with the name of a lawyer consulted about a National Security Letter, which is a demand for records issued by investigators.
Clarify that most libraries are not subject to demands in those letters for information about suspected terrorists.
Feingold and his allies complained that the restrictions on government power would be virtually meaningless in practice.
Though small, his group of four objectors represented progress for Feingold. In 2001, he cast the lone vote against the original Patriot Act, citing concerns over the new powers it granted the FBI.
