Revised Patriot Act falls short in Senate

WASHINGTON — In a strong rebuke of President George W. Bush, Senate Democrats and a small band of renegade Republicans blocked a vote Friday to extend the Patriot Act, the antiterrorism law that broadened law enforcement powers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

With the current law set to expire Dec. 31, the Senate move sets up a game of brinkmanship with the White House, which refused to accept Democratic entreaties to extend the deadline by three months to allow time to make further changes to the law.

The 52-47 vote was one in a series of recent defeats for Bush on what had been one of his strongest issues — security against terrorism.

On Thursday, Bush reluctantly accepted a provision pushed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would ban the use of inhumane, degrading and cruel treatment against foreign prisoners under U.S. control.

On Friday, the House of Representatives also called on the administration to inform Congress about any secret prisons the CIA may be operating in foreign countries.

The Patriot Act stalled after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., fell eight votes short of the 60 votes needed to bring the bill up for a final vote.

Republicans threatened to use the vote politically against Democrats, portraying them as weak on national security. Democrats argued that an unchecked Bush administration was infringing on civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism.

Supporters of the law said that if the Patriot Act weren’t renewed, domestic law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, and national intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, no longer would be able to share terrorism information.

“The Congress has a responsibility not to take away this vital tool that law enforcement and intelligence officials have used to protect the American people,” Bush said in a statement.

“The senators who are filibustering the Patriot Act must stop their delaying tactics so that we are not without this critical law for even a single moment.”

Four Republicans joined all but two Democrats in opposing the legislation. They argued that they wanted to improve the bill, not let the act expire.

“We want to mend the Patriot Act, not end it,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

JAMES KUHNHENN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS