Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Progressive Community
The press releases posted here have been submitted by
America's Progressive Community
For further information or to comment on this press release, please contact the organization directly.
Most Popular This Week
Today's Top News
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Electronic Frontier Foundation Phone: +1 415 436 9333 Email: press@eff.org |
Epic Fail in Congress: USA PATRIOT Act Renewed Without Any New Civil Liberties Protections
WASHINGTON - February 26 - Yesterday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to renew three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, after the Senate abandoned the PATRIOT reform effort and approved the extension by a voice vote on Wednesday night.
Disappointingly, the government's dangerously broad authority to conduct roving wiretaps of unspecified or "John Doe" targets, to secretly wiretap of persons without any connection to terrorists or spies under the so-called "lone wolf" provision, and to secretly access a wide range of private business records without warrants under PATRIOT Section 215 were all renewed without any new checks and balances to prevent abuse. Despite months of vigorous debate, when PATRIOT renewal bills providing for greater oversight and accountability were approved by the Judiciary Committees of both the House and the Senate, Democratic leaders' push for reform fizzled in the face of staunch Republican opposition buoyed by recent hot-button events such as the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas Day and the shooting at Fort Hood.
The renewed PATRIOT provisions were originally set to expire on December 31, 2009, but Congress ran out of time last year and temporarily extended them until February 28th, this coming Sunday. The new extension is expected to be signed by the President before then.
The one silver lining? Despite a push by Republican leaders for a four-year extension, the renewed provisions are now set to expire in one year. So, although this battle's been lost, the effort to roll back PATRIOT's worst excesses is far from over. Thank you to everyone who took action to support PATRIOT reform this past year; we hope that you'll continue the fight with us in the next year.
5 Comments so far
Show AllThis is the last time that I shall vote for any of my elected officials. This is worse than a thirty pieces of silver betrayal.
The stage is set for more extensive Pinochetismo in the US. If things blow in Iran and we see a draft, we may see these practices become prominent.
The hidden Enemy Within consists of Europeans who lived through and survived the Second World War, relocated to the United States subsequently and began to implement a plan, integral to which was the construction of enormous Chambers of Death, which, to this hour, remain camouflaged as convention centers.
The lists of those designated for elimination are ready.
The death trains are waiting.
After numerous decades of subsurface activity, everything is set to go.
The silence of media professionals all around this world who have been apprised of this is complicitous.
Better that I had never learned of these things? Better that I had never written or spoken one word on these matters?
I knew it would be passed, I have not seen one article on this web site or others for over a month , nor any mention of the Patriot Act on the main stream media.
Ok folks, until Patriot Act is repealed we will live a in a stazi environment.Brown shirt spys everywhere.
Local ,state ,and federal law enforcement agencies are merging with elements of our military, Homeland security has taken control of community watch programs, there goal is one spy in twenty, just look at 72 fusion centers activity and 1 million recruits so far.
Trust me , I know, they he been following me for three years, I live in Tampa Florida, and travel through 4 counties every day, they used me to build their spy network, they are not going to give me my day in court, to clear my name of the pack of lies they used to slander and discredit me, I have been psychologically tortured by cointell pro groups run by the government.
This is happening to thousands of Americans across the country, false flags, to build there spy network based on grants and needs.
Every year they get more powerful, and the brown shirt network grows because we dont have jobs for people.
As the New York times is trying to state in an article this morning that Iraq is the birth of a new free nation( thats a joke, as long as we have 130000 troops and 100000 contract security agents) they are locking down our country with spys.
WHY ??? Simple, they have planed to be at war for the next 1000 years, globally, this is the beginning, the spys are not here to find terrorists as much as they are here to report on dissidents, opposition to empire, opposition to the military industrial complex, they have all the money and now their own brown shirt army to shut people up any way they need to.
America, land of the stazi spys, and home of cowards that will not fight to save the constitution.
I am an American citizen of the United States of America,
not the United Stazi of America. And I will never join this torture freak network of abuse and sadistic sick people.
Bornfreemen
I fight with my words,too sound the alarm,that the Stazi are coming,the stazi are coming, because I am out numbered by these by cowardly Americans that have been sucked into believing that the constitution is dead, and that they are important hero's for spying on innocent Americans.
BUSH/CHENNEY BROUGHT MARCUS WOLFE HERE TO TRAIN HOMELAND SECURITY? 2004/5
GOOGLE THAT, AND THEN TELL ME I AM WRONG ABOUT THE STAZI ARE COMING.
ISN'T THAT WHAT HITLER DID???????? BUILD A STAZI NETWORK TO CONTROL THE MASSES WHILE HE WENT TO WAR???
WTF...throw out every bastard that voted to keep this