[Mb-civic] Senate Approves Partial Renewal of Patriot Act - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

<>Senate Approves Partial Renewal of Patriot Act
Measure Would Limit Search and Seizure Powers

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 30, 2005; Page A03

The Senate approved legislation last night that would make permanent 
most provisions of the USA Patriot Act anti-terrorism law while placing 
new limitations on the government's use of secret search and 
surveillance powers.

The vote, by unanimous consent in the GOP-controlled Senate, marks a 
defeat for the Bush administration, which campaigned heavily for total 
renewal of the law and opposed efforts to enact any new restrictions on 
government powers. The vote sets up fall negotiations between the Senate 
and the House, where lawmakers have approved legislation with fewer 
restrictions.

The congressional debate was complicated by a decision released 
yesterday in California, where a federal judge ruled for the second time 
that several provisions of the Patriot Act and related laws are 
unconstitutional.

<>The Senate bill mirrors legislation sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter 
(R-Pa.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and passed unanimously July 21 
by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It would tighten restrictions on the 
FBI's power to seize financial documents and other business records and 
would place a four-year limit on two of the Patriot Act's most 
controversial provisions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/29/AR2005072901962.html?nav=hcmodule 

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