House and Senatenegotiators reached a tentative agreement yesterday on revisions to theUSA Patriot Act that would limit some of the government’s powers whilerequiring the Justice Department to provide a better accounting of itssecret requests for information on ordinary citizens.
Butthe agreement would leave intact some of the most controversialprovisions of the anti-terrorism law, such as government access tolibrary and bookstore records in terrorism probes, and would extendonly limited new rights to the targets of such searches.
For President Bush, renewal of theact would provide a boost as he looks to restore his image as a strongcommander in chief in combating terrorism. And Democrats said yesterdaythat the administration largely got what it wanted — a major breakafter lawmakers challenged the White House in recent days on theconduct of the Iraq war, budget policies and tax cuts.
Thedeal would make permanent 14 Patriot Act provisions that were set toexpire at the end of the year. Three other measures — including oneallowing law enforcement agents access to bookstore and public libraryrecords — would be extended for seven years, or three years longerthan the Senate had agreed to. The House initially extended theprovisions for 10 years but later voted to accept the Senate’sfour-year extension.
Also extended for seven yearsis a provision allowing roving wiretaps that follow an individual whomay use multiple means of communication, rather than targeting a singlephone line. The agreement also extends for seven years a provision of aseparate intelligence law passed last year that allows federalinvestigators to track an individual not connected to a foreigngovernment but suspected of operating as a “lone wolf” terrorist.
Thecompromise would weaken a block of House-approved death penaltyprovisions that had elicited concern in the Senate and in legalcircles. In the event that a jury could not agree to impose the deathpenalty on a convicted terrorist, House Judiciary Committee Chairman F.James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) had hoped to empower prosecutors toimpanel a new jury. The deal also excludes a House proposal to allow adeath penalty for terrorist offenses that “create grave risk of death.”
Theagreement does extend the federal death penalty to those who knowinglytransport materials used in a deadly terrorist attack, those who helpplot a deadly attack on a mass-transit system, and those whoparticipate in a deadly attack on ships and maritime facilities.
Republicansand Democrats said the agreement is a victory for Sensenbrenner, whodefended the expanded government powers enacted after the Sept. 11,2001, attacks. Civil libertarians and liberal Democrats lamented thedeal as another blow to individual rights. And three Democraticsenators and three GOP senators declared the agreement unacceptablelast night.
“Is Congress standing up to thepresident? No, not on this one,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), aHouse Judiciary Committee Democrat.
The agreement,which could go to final votes in the House and Senate before the end ofthe week, is Congress’s first effort to revise the national securitymeasure that became law just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks. Duringlast year’s presidential campaign, the Patriot Act was elevated to amajor political issue, showcased by Bush as a sign of strength in theface of terrorism but maligned by many Democrats as an abuse of power.Hundreds of local governments have passed resolutions decrying the lawas an infringement of civil liberties.
When Congressturned to reauthorizing the measure this year, there were bipartisancalls for major changes. House and Senate negotiators have agreed tolimit the government’s powers in some areas, while rebuffing Bushadministration requests for new subpoena powers.
Buton balance, the compromise sides with a stronger government hand whenterrorism investigations clash with civil liberties concerns.
ButCongress does not look ready to hand Bush all of the sweeping powers itwas willing to grant in 2001. Negotiators refused to back theadministration’s request for administrative subpoenas, which would haveexpanded the government’s power to subpoena records without theapproval of a judge or grand jury in terrorism investigations. SenateIntelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) called that “aserious mistake,” saying the government already has such powers toinvestigate non-security issues such as Medicare fraud.
“We can do it for a dirty doctor but not a dirty bomber,” he said.
Whilethe government would retain access to library, bookstore and businessrecords, the FBI would face new limits on the retention anddissemination of such information.
The compromisealso places new controls on the FBI’s use of “national securityletters,” which require companies to provide private information abouttheir customers and to keep the request secret. The Patriot Act allowedthe FBI to use such letters on any citizen it deemed relevant to anational security investigation, even if the target is not suspected ofany wrong-doing.
A Nov. 6 article in The WashingtonPost revealed that loosened restrictions in the Patriot Act helpedboost the annual use of such letters 100-fold, to more than 30,000 ayear from about 300 before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Underthe compromise, the Justice Department would have to disclose thenumber of requests it made for information concerning differenttargeted people in the United States, but not including thecommunications subscriber information that makes up the bulk of suchrequests.
Those who receive such letters would beallowed to consult a lawyer and challenge the requests under a newjudicial review process.
But critics said thosecontrols were more cosmetic than real. A recipient wishing to revealonly the receipt of a security letter would have to prove thatdisclosure would not harm national security or diplomatic relations orendanger any lives or public safety, while the government can merelyassert disclosure would have those effects.