House OKs bill making Patriot Act permanent

USA Today | July 22 2005

WASHINGTON - The House passed a bill Thursday night that would make permanent several controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act, a sweeping anti-terrorism and anti-crime law that Congress passed in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The House, which approved the measure 257-171, began debate shortly after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved its own version of the bill.

Both bills would make permanent 14 of 16 Patriot Act provisions set to expire Dec. 31. Both would also extend "sunsets," or expiration dates, for two other provisions - one dealing with wiretaps and the other with seizures of library and medical records.

Unlike the House bill, the Senate committee wants more proof of a suspect's terrorism connections before federal agents could obtain personal information. The committee also wants to eliminate a gag order provision that prohibits any business from speaking about an FBI request for information.

Once the Senate passes its version of the bill, a committee will be formed with the House to work out the differences between the two versions.

Passed in October 2001, the USA Patriot Act is a cornerstone of the Bush administration's war on terrorism, and the president has insisted that Congress make permanent all of the act's provisions.

The act contains hundreds of changes to existing laws that federal investigators had sought for years dealing with terrorism, espionage and general crime.

Republicans and Democrats offered nearly 20 amendments to the House bill that would place more restrictions on federal agents' surveillance powers.

One of the approved amendments would require the FBI director to personally sign off on agents' requests to a secret court order for library or bookstore records.