US congress agrees to Patriot Act extension

Congress approved a one-month extension of the USA Patriot Act and sent it to President George Bush in a pre-Christmas scramble to prevent many of its anti-terrorism provisions from expiring on December 31.

Most of the Patriot Act – which expanded the government’s surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and financiers – was made permanent when Congress overwhelmingly passed it after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.