Senate buys time by extending parts of Patriot Act

The Senate voted 86-12 on Tuesday night to extend for three months key surveillance clauses in the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act, in essence buying time to settle arguments over whether to add civil rights protections or make the provisions permanent. Democrats were under pressure to act on the measures, after the GOP-led House on Monday passed legislation, H.R.514 to renew the same expiring sections for almost a year.

The three parts -- all set to expire in less than two weeks -- would grant government officials permission to perform roving wiretaps on suspects who switch computers or phone numbers to evade tracking; to trail lone wolves -- individuals without known links to terrorist organizations -- and to obtain records from organizations using a court order.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had wanted to pass a different bipartisan measure, with heightened judicial checks, before the expiration date, but given the time constraints he and Senate leaders agreed on the short reprieve.

Leahy still plans to take up his bill, S. 193, in committee on Thursday. "Our bill can promote transparency and expand privacy and civil liberties safeguards in the law," he said. "It will increase judicial oversight of government surveillance powers that capture information on Americans."

But Judiciary ranking Republican Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, backs a competing Senate bill that would cement the observation capabilities into law. Some House members, including H.R. 514-sponsor Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., also support making the powers permanent.

House leaders expect to vote on the Senate's three-month postponement this week, according to aides. "The extension will allow the three expiring provisions to be fully vetted and evaluated through the committee process," said Laena Fallon, spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

The original bill passed on Monday would force a vote on a controversial issue close to the 2012 election year -- prompting a showdown that, observers say, Democrats and the White House want to avoid. Obama administration officials last week voiced strong support for renewing the monitoring measures -- unchanged -- for three years, adding that intelligence and law enforcement agencies need those authorities to safeguard the nation. Leahy's modified legislation also would sunset in three years, on Dec. 31, 2013.

The House measure "would extend the Patriot Act without improvement for the rest of the year," Leahy said. "That is too little for too long. I do not begrudge our friends in the House time to do their work, and for the new Republican majority to seek additional time to consider the expiring provisions of the Patriot Act. But it should not take a year to pass improvements to these provisions. Importantly, we should not extend this debate into an election year and risk that some will play politics with our national security."

Leahy's adjustments to the Patriot Act would require the government to submit facts that justify attaining a court order to review business records. The existing law states records are assumed relevant if they are connected with a foreign power, the activities of a suspected agent of a foreign power, or a person in contact with such an agent.

His proposal also would make it harder for the government to jump through the legal hoops necessary for conducting wiretaps. Current law directs the government only to attest that the information federal officials want is foreign intelligence or applicable to a terrorism investigation. The changes would mandate that officials provide details that validate the belief that the information collected will be applicable.