US votes to limit Patriot Act rules

ADVOCATES of rewriting the US Patriot Act are claiming momentum after the House of Representatives, despite a White House veto threat, voted to restrict investigators from using the anti-terrorism law to peek at library records and book shop sales slips.

Wednesday’s 238-187 vote came as lawmakers ramped up efforts to extend the Patriot Act, which was passed quickly in the emotional aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. When Congress passed the law, it included a sunset provision under which 15 of its provisions are to expire at the end of this year.

Since the Patriot Act passed, liberals and libertarian-oriented conservatives have pressed for changes, citing privacy and civil liberties concerns. The administration has said weakening of the act would draw a veto from US President George W Bush.

“No question, this is a real shot in the arm for those of us who want to make changes to the USA Patriot Act,” said Representative Bernard Sanders, sponsor of the provision that would curtail the government’s ability to investigate the reading habits of terror suspects. He said the vote would help “rein in an administration intent on chipping away at the very civil liberties that define us as a nation”.

The vote reversed a narrow loss last year by lawmakers concerned about the potential invasion of privacy of innocent library users. They narrowed the proposal this year to permit the government to continue to seek out records of internet use at libraries.

The House is debating a $57.5 billion (€47.5bn) bill covering the departments of Commerce, Justice and State. The Justice Department said in a letter to lawmakers that, as of March 30, federal investigators had not used the Patriot Act to obtain library or bookstore records but the authority provides “an important tool for investigating and intercepting terrorism”.

Supporters of rolling back the library and bookstore provision said that the law gives the FBI too much leeway to go on fishing expeditions based on what people read. Innocent people could get tagged as potential terrorists based on what they check out from a library. “If the government suspects someone is looking up how to make atom bombs, go to a court and get a search warrant,” said Republican Jerrold Nadler.

Supporters of the Patriot Act countered that the rules are potentially useful and argued that the House was voting to make libraries safe havens for terrorists.

Meanwhile, a number of libraries have begun disposing of patrons’ records so they won’t be available if sought under the law.