Watch Historic Hearing on American Liberties in U.S. Senate
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It is interesting that Republicans who should be the most conservative when it comes to protecting American civil liberties seem to be the most vocal in repealing those liberties in the name of security. But why does the FBI, the NSA and Military Intelligence have to spy on little old ladies, librarians, bloggers and journalists when they can't even find Osama bin Laden?
Watch the U.S. Senate on C-SPAN 2
The Associated Press is reporting today that several Patriot Act provisions that the Bush administration says are crucial in the fight to stop terrorism on U.S. soil may only be around for another couple of weeks.
A coalition of Senate Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans is threatening to filibuster a congressional agreement to renew 16 key portions of the USA Patriot Act before they expire Dec. 31.
A showdown vote was scheduled Friday, with the White House and its congressional allies rejecting suggestions for a short-term extension of the current law as is. White House allies said they would prefer to let the 16 temporary provisions expire completely rather than give critics more time to add additional restrictions on the FBI's ability to comb through Americans' computer files and bank and library records.
Making most of the Act's provisions permanent is a priority for both the Bush administration and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill before Congress adjourns for the year.
The House on Wednesday passed a House-Senate compromise bill to renew the Act that supporters say added significant safeguards to the law. These supporters predict doom and gloom if the Patriot Act's critics win and the provisions expire.
The failure to renew the provisions would be "interpreted by our enemies as somehow inviting or even enabling further terrorist attacks on U.S. soil," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said.
But the critics, who include senators like Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Republican Larry Craig of Idaho, say they don't want the Patriot Act to expire - they just want enough time to improve the bill to the point where it doesn't infringe on American liberties.