Bush pressures Congress to renew Patriot act
US President George Bush is pressuring Congress to renew the Patriot Act by highlighting the actions of Ohio police who helped catch a man accused of plotting attacks on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and a Midwest shopping centre.
Portions of the Patriot Act – signed into law six weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks to catch other terrorists – are set to expire at the end of the year. The law bolstered FBI surveillance and law-enforcement powers in terror cases, increased use of material witness warrants to hold suspects incommunicado for months and allowed secret proceedings in immigration cases.
