U.S. Congress Prolongs the Patriot Act until 2015

NEW YORK, CORRESPONDENT – Congress voted in extremis Thursday, May 26 to renew until 2015 the Patriot Act, the “security” law initiated by the Bush administration and adopted by lawmakers after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks perpetrated by al-Qaida.

Already renewed twice, this law greatly expands the possibilities of monitoring and intercepting mail carried by security services and their access to private information held by companies or administrations about American citizens and those who reside in the United States — for example, libraries could be required to indicate books borrowed by readers — or monitoring foreigners likely to have ties with terrorist activities.

The Patriot Act has long been the subject of a strong opposition from civil rights organizations, and its removal is requested by a (small) majority of Democrats who judge the security arsenal sufficient to protect the country without encroaching upon individual liberties and by certain Republicans for either the same reasons or, like the “Libertarian” Rand Paul, to challenge all invasions of privacy and property rights.

The Law “Crucial for U.S. Security”

[With the Patriot Act being] judged by the White House as “absolutely essential to national security,” the director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, and FBI Director Robert Mueller had written to the representatives on Wednesday, pressuring them to renew the Patriot Act without modification. The “temporary” law — already renewed twice — absolutely had to be renewed before May 26 at midnight, the previous expiration date.

In the Senate (72 for, 23 against), the two parties united their majorities in this way: 30 Democrats (against 18) and 41 Republicans (against four) had voted in favor. But the House vote (250 for, 153 against) was divided: 196 Republicans renewed the law (54 voted against it), but only 31 Democrats joined them, with 122 members of Barack Obama’s party voting against it.

Concerning the vote, two Democratic senators, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado, accused the Obama administration of abusing the provisions of the Patriot Act. “When American people learn how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned, and they will be angry,” declared Wyden. Both are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.