Senate Votes to Extend Patriot Act Provisions
The Senate voted Tuesday to extend for 90 days the legal life of three post-Sept. 11 terrorism-fighting measures, including the use of roving wiretaps, that are set to expire at the end of the month.
The short-term extension gives lawmakers a chance to review the measures that critics from both the right and left say are unconstitutional infringements on personal liberties.
The Senate voted 86-12 a day after the House of Representatives agreed to extend the three provisions, including two from the 2001 USA Patriot Act, until Dec. 8. The two chambers now must agree on a common approach. With Congress in recess next week, there is pressure to reach a compromise this week.
The measures include the authority to initiate roving wiretaps on multiple electronic devices and the authority to obtain court-approved access to business records considered relevant to terror investigations. The third "lone wolf" provision, part of a 2004 law, permits secret intelligence surveillance of non-U.S. individuals not known to be....
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The short-term extension gives lawmakers a chance to review the measures that critics from both the right and left say are unconstitutional infringements on personal liberties.
The Senate voted 86-12 a day after the House of Representatives agreed to extend the three provisions, including two from the 2001 USA Patriot Act, until Dec. 8. The two chambers now must agree on a common approach. With Congress in recess next week, there is pressure to reach a compromise this week.
The measures include the authority to initiate roving wiretaps on multiple electronic devices and the authority to obtain court-approved access to business records considered relevant to terror investigations. The third "lone wolf" provision, part of a 2004 law, permits secret intelligence surveillance of non-U.S. individuals not known to be....