A one year extension was quickly passed via voice vote in the Senate minus any protections for the privacy of US citizens because of a threatened filibuster by Republicans. The bill now goes the the house. Let’s see of they have more spine that the Senate and let parts of the Patriot Act slip into the sunset.
The Senate on Wednesday extended for a year key provisions of the nation’s counterterrorism surveillance law that are scheduled to expire at the end of the month. One provision authorizes court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones. A second allows court-approved seizure of records and property in antiterrorism operations. A third permits surveillance against a noncitizen suspected of engaging in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group. In agreeing to pass the bill, Senate Democrats retreated from adding new privacy protections to the USA Patriot Act. The Senate approved the bill on a voice vote with no debate. It now goes to the House.
Will we continue to kiss out 4th Amendment Rights good-bye? Or will the house tell the Senate “forgettabouit”?