Today, the House of Representatives failed to extend three provisions of the Patriot act and Intelligence Reform Bill after a 277-148 vote failed to gain a two-thirds majority, according to CNN.com. Such extensions would have lasted until December 8th. The provisions will now expire on February 28th as planned.
Section 206 provides for "roving wiretap surveillance" without the need for a court order for every change of location, phone, or computer being monitored. Section 215 allows the Federal Bureau of Investigations to seek court approval to "issue orders granting the government access to any intangible items in foreign intelligence, international terrorism and clandestine intelligence cases." Finally, Section 6001 of the bill "closes a loophole" that gives terrorists working independently of organizations to avoid surveillance form the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This has been called a "lone wolf provision."
It is uncertain that progress will be made on the bill before the expiration date. "We are now under a time crunch," said Rep.F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), author of the original act, to the Los Angeles Times. Sensenbrenner noted the coming federal holidays and short number of working days let in the month.
The bill, originally introduced to the House in 2001 after the attacks on September 11th, has generated debate on the intrusions of the privacy of suspected terrorists or persons of interest to federal investigations. Supporters have claimed the bill has prevented numerous attempted attacks while opponents argue that access to personal records should not be allowed without a court order.
Many of the twenty-six Republicans who opposed the bill are new members of Congress. Some have said they would agree to revisit the issue after more discussion and committee time has been devote to the debated provisions.
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