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Patriot Act key to protecting the Homeland; additional safeguards balance civil liberties with national secruity
(July 21, 2005) - The U.S House of Representatives passed the Patriot Act and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005 Thursday evening, 257-161. The bill reauthorizes the Patriot Act which was designed to foster a more effective domestic War on Terror.
“Reauthorizing the Patriot Act was the responsible thing to do, and it was good that it was done in a bipartisan way,” U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) said. The proponents of reauthorization included 214 Republicans and 43 Democrats. “I'm satisfied that legitimate civil liberty concerns were addressed in the 10 year sunset on certain sensitive provisions, the passage of several limiting amendments and a commitment to vigorous oversight by an appropriately skeptical Judiciary Committee.”
Two sections of concern that were part of 10-year sunset provisions were Section 206, regarding roving phone taps and Section 215, dealing with requisition of business records.
Section 206 enables a federal intelligence/counter-intelligence investigator to go to a federal judge and get an order to intercept the conversations of an individual no matter what phone the individual uses. This is after the investigator proves to a federal judge that there is probable cause that the individual is an agent of a foreign power or foreign terrorist organization that is changing telephones in an attempt to avoid surveillance.
Section 215 deals with allowing courts to issue an order directing that business records (including library records) be turned over to authorities in a foreign intelligence investigation. Although no documented cases of abuse were presented by opponents, the potential for misuse warranted a close inspection of this section. To protect against possible cases of government abuse, the section also clarifies that the information to be obtained should be “(a) foreign intelligence information NOT concerning a U.S. person or (b) relevant to an ongoing investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.” A Flake amendment required the approval of the FBI director for requests of library and bookstore records.
The Patriot and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005 re-authorizes the Patriot Act passed in 2001 which:
- Removed major legal barriers that prevented the law enforcement, intelligence and national defense communities from coordinating their work;
- Allowed law enforcement to use surveillance against more terror-related activities and allowed the authorization of nationwide search warrants;
- Updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats;
- Increased penalties for those who commit terrorist crimes and those who harbor terrorists.