Congress goes to the brink before renewing Patriot Act

By Karoun Demirjian (contact) Friday, may 27, 2011 | 5 : 41 AM Harry Reid Shelley Berkley Dean Heller

Congress seems to love the brinksmanship in: it only narrowly avoided, so that the Patriot Act expires.

Thursday evening, the Senate voted 72-23 for extending by four years of the law that amped up the Government's monitoring capacity, enabling the authorities to obtain special court concluding that the seizure of items related to terrorism probes, tap phones and investigate suspicious individuals are not necessarily connected to known terrorist groups. Parliament followed suit soon after, with a vote of 250-153.

The monitoring activities allowed by the Patriot Act has been subject to scrutiny under the concerns about privacy and civil rights since October 2001, when President George w. Bush signed it into law in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks by Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden's recent death has breathed a new urgency in the legislation of many lawmakers, who believe it is necessary to keep all the tools for collecting intelligence possible can be used, particularly as Government wins the new leads from the treasure trove of information recovered from the RAID on Bid Laden's compound.

Nevada Democratic rep Shelley Berkley is one of the legislators who have expressed serious concern over the application of the Patriot Act before.

But she put them in the larger purpose, to keep the U.S. intelligence-gathering in fighting shape in a critical situation in the fight against terrorism, she said.

-Patriot Act provisions we stretch is crucial for the United States's national security and the prevention of terrorism, said Berkley.

"They give law enforcement the authority and tools needed to track suspected and known terrorists in order to better protect our nation against those who seek to harm our families, our communities and those serving in our armed forces at home and abroad," she said.

But she said, it is important "that this package can only be extended to them during a limited time, restrain Congress oversight over how those rules apply."

Process, but went almost due because of an impasse in the Senate between majority leader Harry Reid and Taylor's Republican Sen. Rand Paul.

Paul has been with a strange utilitarian libertarian during his time on the national policy arena.

He came to Washington for a wave of Tea Party support but then overridden by the perception that he had little loyalty to the party as tea.

He will not support what was the Republican party's preferred approach to deal with next year's budget – the now defunct a presented by House rep Paul Ryan would have introduced significant changes to Medicare. Instead, he presented his own proposed balancing the budget by folding departments of Commerce, education, energy and Housing and Urban Development.

Paul got into a heated standoff with Reid during the past week, over increasing changes in the Bill. Reid was willing to let him do it, but not about the amendment which forbids authorities from verification of the registers of gun dealers to see who is buying arms.

"He is fighting for an amendment to protect the right – not of average citizens, but from terrorists — to cover up their gun purchases," Reid said of Paul's one-man filibuster, which continued as the clock ticked down to midnight last night.

But Paul was adamant that his struggle was one of principle.

"Those who want to destroy our country would like to see us Loose from within. We Dissolve from within when we give up our freedoms, "says Paul.

"If you think it is law enforcement activities, obtain an arrest warrant," he said. "You can't give up your freedom to capture our criminals."

Almost no one was with Paul on this one.

Other senators who hoped to introduce changes to force the Government to stick to new demands, withdrew them as Thursday wore on. Also the minority leader, Mitch McConnell, tried to get Paul to ignore their reservation Bill with a call to "now is not the time to give the tools authorised by this Act."

Reid finished vika Patriot Act extension to the interface of the unfinished Small Business Innovation Bill to speed up the time until he could force the Senate to vote, despite Paul's objections.

In the end, Paul would lose this particular crusade, but he would not be the only politician to take a strong stand on principle and to vote against the Patriot Act. So did the 19 other Democrats and only four other Republicans – including Nevada Sen. Dean Heller.

"I have opposed the USA Patriot Act since day one and continues to oppose it," he said. "I just don't think it is necessary that the Government knows your bank accounts, in order to come into your home. I imagine philosophically, only I do not trust the Federal Government to use that authority. "

Nor was the only member of the Nevada delegation to vote against the Patriot Act extension. Berkley, Republican Rep. Joe Heck, and Reid all supported it.

"But the PATRIOT Act is not a perfect law, it gives our intelligence and law enforcement communities vital tools to keep America safe and thwart terrorism," said Reid after the vote.