WASHINGTON—Congress approved a four-year extension of
expiring provisions of the Patriot Act Thursday, overcoming opposition
from both political parties to narrowly avoid a lapse in the terrorist
surveillance law.
President Barack Obama, attending an international
summit in France, made plans to awake at 5:45 a.m. local time to review
and approve the bill, directing that it be signed in Washington by
automatic pen before the provisions expired at midnight EDT, with just
minutes to spare.
The administration had warned Congress that any interruption in the surveillance authority would threaten national security.
Passage came late Thursday after a protracted
political struggle that played out over several months, a sign of
increased unease with powers granted to the federal government to
investigate citizens and foreigners after the terrorist attacks on Sept.
11, 2001.
Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, many
of them elected with backing from the conservative tea party movement,
resisted attempts to extend the three expiring provisions of the act.
Dramatizing the debate this week, Sen. Rand Paul,
R-Ky., held up Senate floor proceedings to protest what he characterized
as an unconstitutional overreach by the federal government into private
affairs.
Earlier this year, unexpected opposition from a bloc
of House Republicans thwarted a short-term extension of the retiring
provisions, temporarily derailing the bill in that chamber.
Democrats similarly have opposed the post-Sept. 11
government authority and this week’s standoff risked an expiration of
the provisions at midnight.
“We all want security — nobody wants what happened on
9/11 to happen again,” Paul said. “But I think we don’t need to
simplify the debate to such an extent that we simply say we have to give
up our liberties.”
Supporters said that extending the provisions would
ensure no disruption in the government’s ability to conduct surveillance
they say has proved crucial to the ability of intelligence agencies to
amass information vital to keeping the country safe.
By extending the measures through June 1, 2015,
lawmakers codified a compromise with Republican leaders who preferred a
permanent extension.
“The Patriot Act has been plagued by myths and
misinformation for 10 years,” said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. “If
Congress fails to reauthorize these laws before they expire, America’s
national security and that of its citizens will be the most vulnerable
in a decade.”
When authorized by the president, the White House
can use an “autopen” to replicate his signature. Similar machines have
been used by past presidents, other public officials and celebrities and
business officials to replicate their signatures.
One of the sections of the Patriot Act extended by
Congress allows federal authorities to listen in on conversations of
foreign suspects even when they change phones or locations, so-called
“roving wiretap” power.
Another gives the government the ability to access to
the personal records of terror suspects, a section often called the
“library provision” because of the wide range of personal material that
can be investigated.
A third section is known as the “lone wolf” provision
because it gives authority to the government to investigate foreigners
who have no known affiliation with terrorist groups.
All of the authorities require court order from secret federal courts.
The House voted 250-153, with 31 Republicans and 122 Democrats opposed.
Earlier, the Senate approved the bill 72-23. Four
Republicans — Paul, Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah,
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined 18 Democrats and Independent Sen.
Bernie Sanders of Vermont in opposition.
———
(c) 2011, Tribune Co.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
