[Mb-civic] Deadline for the Patriot Act - Russ Feingold, John Sununu - Boston Globe Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

Deadline for the Patriot Act

By Russ Feingold and John Sununu  |  November 9, 2005

IN JULY, something unusual occurred in Washington: The US Senate cast a 
unanimous vote on a controversial issue. Every member of the Senate 
agreed to make meaningful changes to the Patriot Act as we reauthorized 
parts of it scheduled to expire at the end of the year. These revisions 
will ensure that our government can wage an effective fight against 
terrorists that respects our basic freedoms. But the battle for these 
reforms is not over. In the coming weeks, a House-Senate conference 
committee will meet to work out the differences between competing 
versions of the bill. Hard-won improvements to the Patriot Act could be 
in jeopardy.

We will make every effort -- and, if we have to, use procedural options 
at our disposal -- to oppose a final reauthorization bill that either 
strips out the meaningful changes made by the Senate bill or adds 
measures that ignore the public demands for more protection of our 
rights and freedoms. Our goal is not to derail reauthorization; it is to 
ensure that necessary changes to the Patriot Act are made as part of the 
reauthorization bill. We can -- and should -- provide law enforcement 
with the tools necessary to fight terrorism while protecting civil 
liberties at home.

The end-of-the-year deadline for reauthorization gives us a rare chance 
to fix parts of the Patriot Act -- creating a check on searches for 
library, bookstore, and other sensitive records, putting new safeguards 
on secret ''sneak and peek" searches of Americans' homes, and giving 
citizens real power to challenge secret court orders. These and other 
issues are at stake in the House-Senate conference committee's 
deliberations.

If the Senate bill prevails in conference, Congress will finally catch 
up with an American public that has been questioning the Patriot Act for 
years -- librarians who are standing up to a Justice Department that 
wants the power to dig into Americans' library records; town and city 
councils -- even whole states -- that have passed resolutions opposing 
parts of the Patriot Act; and business interests like the US Chamber of 
Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National 
Association of Realtors that support changes to the law.

The Senate bill would make changes to some of the most controversial 
provisions of the Patriot Act. The Senate bill would:

Require the government to convince a judge that a person is connected to 
terrorism or espionage before secretly obtaining library, medical, and 
other sensitive business records about that person, and allow recipients 
of court orders for such records to challenge them in court.

Require the government in most circumstances to inform targets of 
''sneak and peek" searches within seven days instead of being able to 
delay that notification for an indefinite period as permitted by the 
Patriot Act, or for up to six months as permitted by the House bill.

Eliminate ''John Doe roving wiretaps," the secret intelligence orders 
that can now be issued without identifying either the person or phone to 
be tapped.

Provide only a four-year extension for three of the most sensitive 
provisions of the Patriot Act.

The House bill fails to include these important measures, leaving too 
many of our freedoms at risk. While some improvements were incorporated 
in the House bill, it is still a far cry from what Congress owes the 
American people.

There is a strong sense among many Americans that in the Patriot Act the 
government overreached when it sought power that is a potential threat 
to law-abiding citizens. Congress should respond to these legitimate 
concerns by sending the unanimously adopted Senate version of the 
Patriot Act reauthorization bill to the president. We must reform the 
Patriot Act, not rubber-stamp the original law. With these reforms, we 
can fight terrorism without sacrificing our freedoms.

Russ Feingold, a Democratic US senator from Wisconsin. and John Sununu, 
a Republican US senator from New Hampshire, are original cosponsors of 
the legislation to modify the Patriot Act.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/11/09/deadline_for_the_patriot_act/
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