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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050616/pl_afp/usattacksrights/nc:1278;_ylt=A86.I0.e
RrFCJ3cATCM8KbIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Defying Bush again, US House votes to curb surveillance 

1 hour, 12 minutes ago

The US House of Representatives has rebelled against President George W. Bush 
for a second time in just three weeks by voting to shield libraries and 
bookstores 
from government investigators trying to collect information on terrorism 
suspects.

By a vote of 238-187, the chamber on Wednesday approved an amendment to a bill 
funding the Justice Department that prohibits it from using a section of the 
USA 
Patriot Act enabling agents to gain access to customer reading records from US 
libraries and bookstore.

The vote in defiance of a presidential veto threat, followed last month's 
passage of 
legislation allowing new federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, also 
in 
spite of Bush's repeated threats to veto it.

Enacted barely six weeks after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New 
York and Washington, the USA Patriot Act is seen by the Bush administration as 
a 
key legal tool in the war on terror.

It gives the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other US law enforcement 
agencies 
greater search and surveillance powers by streamlining procedures and 
eliminating 
red tape. But critics have charged that the law threatens to undermine key 
civil 
liberties by making Americans more vulnerable to government intrusion.

Section 215 of the act has drawn particularly strong fire because it has 
empowered 
federal agents to access the reading records of Americans in both libraries and 
bookstores after securing an order from a secret court.

A similar amendment to protect US readers, offered by independent Congressman 
Bernie Sanders last year, failed to pass by just one vote.

But on Wednesday, the pendulum clearly swung in his favor as 38 Republicans 
joined most of the Democrats in a bid to remedy the situation.

"The passage of this amendment helps reign in an administration intent on 
chipping 
away at the very civil liberties that define us as a nation," an elated Sanders 
said in a 
statement.

"We must do all we can to protect Americans from terrorism, but we must do it 
in a 
way that does not undermine the basic constitutional rights that makes us a 
free 
country," he added.

The amendment passed just one day after the White House publicly threatened to 
veto the whole bill that funds the Justice, State and Commerce Departments, if 
the 
Sanders measure ever saw the light of day.

"If any amendment that would weaken the USA Patriot Act were included in a bill 
presented to the president for his signature, the presidents senior advisors 
would 
recommend a veto," the White House's Office of Management and Budget warned in 
a terse statement.

But most House members appeared not in the mood for compromises.

House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that when Congress voted for 
the Patriot Act in late 2001, members were confident it would be accompanied by 
strong Congressional oversight.

"That oversight has not occurred effectively," stated Pelosi.

Representative Ron Paul (news, bio, voting record), one of two Republican co-
sponsors of the amendment, made clear he was wary of the Patriot Act because it 
promoted big government, an anathema for many traditional conservatives like 
himself.

"We must understand that politicians and bureaucrats always seek to expand 
their 
power, without regard to the long-term consequences," he cautioned.

The vote put a big question mark on the administration's efforts to 
re-authorize the 
Patriot Act, key portions of which will automatically expire at the end of this 
year. 

In addition to keeping its existing powers, the FBI has been seeking so-called 
"administrative subpoena" authority that would allow it to request private 
records from 
hospitals, doctors' offices, banks, hotels or any other business without first 
getting 
approval from a judge. 

It also wants to be able to read the covers of people's mail as it searches for 
terror 
suspects.

Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information 
contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or 
redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.~ ~ ~ 
~ ~ ~ 
~ 
Alamaine
Grand Forks, ND, US of A



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