Washington, DC-- Activist group Demand Progress argues that the House Judiciary Committee's amendments to the Patriot Act strengthen Osama bin Laden's ugly legacy by extending the government's post 9-11 domestic spying regime. The amendments, offered by Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and approved at last week's House Judiciary Committee hearing, would renew most of the Patriot Act for six years while making the so-called "lone wolf" provision permanent. More than 2,500 Demand Progress members called House Judiciary Committee members last week to urge them to vote against the amendments, and against extending the Patriot Act at all. More than 75,000 Demand Progress members have signed a petition opposing the Patriot Act extension at:
http://act.demandprogress.org/
The Patriot Act was enacted as a supposedly temporary measure in the wake of 9-11, but portions of it have been made permanent, and the remaining provisions have been extended four times and are set to sunset on May 27th. With the death of bin Laden, Demand Progress urges Congress to reject the Sensenbrenner amendments and re-institute pre-9-11 legal norm, when reverence for civil liberties was a priority for both Americans and their government.
Demand Progress Executive Director Aaron Swartz said, "We need to erase bin Laden's ugly legacy, not extend it. By ending the Patriot Act's erosion of our civil liberties, we can protect the freedoms that make America worth fighting for."
"With bin Laden's demise, the era of the Patriot Act, of spying on Americans who aren't suspected of crimes, of heavy-handed abuse of our dearly held civil liberties, must come to an end," said Campaign Director David Segal. "The passage of Sensenbrenner's amendments -- or any extension of the Patriot Act -- would prove that bin Laden and his cronies succeeded in changing the American way of life for good."
Progressives and Tea Party Republicans initially blocked a long-term Patriot Act extension in January, but a three month-extension was passed in February. During the interim, the House and Senate have held hearings on potential reforms to the expiring provisions. The authorities in question are:
1) Section 215 powers which make it easier for the government to seize records from people not accused or suspected of crimes
2) Roving wiretaps which need not specify the devices or the individuals being targeted.
3) The "lone wolf" provision which reduces legal protections for certain individuals by applying the standards used when somebody is an agent of a foreign power.
If approved by the full House and Senate, Congressman Sensenbrenner's amendments would extend the Section 215 and roving wiretap powers for six more years, while making the "lone wolf" provision permanent.
Here is how Alabama’s Delegation voted February 16 on Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 514), intending to extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 relating to access to business records, individual terrorists as agents of foreign powers, and roving wiretaps until December 8, 2011:
| STATE | DISTRICT | NAME | |
| AL | 4 | Aye | Aderholt, Robert [R] |
| AL | 6 | Aye | Bachus, Spencer [R] |
| AL | 1 | Aye | Bonner, Jo [R] |
| AL | 5 | Aye | Brooks, Mo [R] |
| AL | 2 | Aye | Roby, Martha [R] |
| AL | 3 | Aye | Rogers, Michael [R] |
| AL | 7 | Aye | Sewell, Terri [D] |
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Demand Progress is an online activist group and political action committee with nearly 400,000 members. Nearly 75,000 Demand Progress members have urged Congress to fix the Patriot Act. In April nearly 3,000 of them called the White House to urge President Obama to veto any bill that lacks sufficient reforms. Demand Progress aired an anti-Patriot Act ad on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News earlier this year
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