Patriot Act Sparks New Debate

Yeas and nays sound off, as Congress weighs reauthorizing antiterrorism law

By Eric Oatman -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2005

Debate on Capitol Hill over the USA PATRIOT Act began anew last month, as judiciary committees of both houses of Congress heard testimony on the controversial antiterrorism law, which is up for renewal.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee April 5 that the administration was willing to accept minor changes to the law, including to Section 215, which allows law enforcement agencies to search business records, including those at libraries and bookstores. "The government should not be obtaining the library records of law-abiding Americans, and I will do everything within my power to ensure that this will not happen on my watch," he says.

Opposition to Section 215—a target of civil libertarians since the passage of the Patriot Act, six weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks—is becoming increasingly bipartisan.

Former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee April 20 alongside representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups to voice opposition to the Patriot Act. Barr, a conservative who voted to approve the law in 2001, now heads the recently formed Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances (www.checksbalances.org), a broad-based coalition dedicated to scuttling provisions of the Patriot Act, including Section 215, which also applies to records of firearms purchases. The group claims among its members such strange political bedfellows as the ACLU, the American Conservative Union, and the Gun Owners of America, all of which consider aspects of the antiterrorism legislation unconstitutional.

Several bills designed to tame the act are pending in the House and Senate. One of them—the Freedom to Read Protection Act, sponsored by Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT)—would exempt bookstores and libraries from Section 215. The bipartisan Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act, championed by Larry E. Craig (R-ID) and Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), would set limits on some of the powers granted in 2001.

Gonzales also revealed to the committee that the Justice Department has never issued a warrant under Section 215 to secure library records. However, FBI Director Robert Mueller testified that his department had obtained library records in the course of terrorism investigations, but without invoking Section 215.

While the administration appeared to be softening its stand on the Patriot Act, Gonzales nevertheless urged the renewal of all 16 provisions of the act that are due to expire at the end of the year. As for Section 215, Gonzales says the administration "would support a change in the law to allow specific challenges to a Section 215 order and would support changes in law that would allow someone to talk to an attorney in connection with preparation of that order."