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Patriot Bill Moves Along

Source: Wired News

Published: 7:16 a.m. Oct. 4, 2001 PDT Author: Declan McCullagh

Posted on 10/4/01 10:36 AM Pacific by Pipe Dog

Patriot Bill Moves Along By Declan McCullagh 7:16 a.m. Oct. 4, 2001 PDT

WASHINGTON -- A key House panel has unanimously approved unprecedented surveillance powers for police, capping a fiery weeklong debate over how to balance freedom while fighting terrorism.

Late Wednesday evening, the House Judiciary Committee voted 36-0 in favor of an anti-terrorism bill crafted by GOP and Democratic leaders but opposed by civil liberties groups. The full House will likely vote on the measure by next week.

During the six-hour debate that ended at 8:30 p.m. EDT, which included votes on amendments to the bill, committee members said they felt the so-called Patriot Act -- based loosely on the additional police powers that President Bush had requested -- is a reasonable compromise between liberty and security.

Rep. Robert Scott (D-Virginia) said: "Much of this bill will be an effort to give authority and then safeguard against abuses."

Even legislators such as arch-conservative Bob Barr (R-Georgia), who had criticized the Patriot Act earlier this week, ended up embracing it. "We were able to eliminate or severely limit the most egregious violations of Americans' civil liberties that were contained in the original proposal," Barr said after the vote.

At a Cato Institute event Tuesday afternoon, Barr had taken a far more critical approach: "The philosophy underlying the legislation remains problematic.... There are a number of troubling provisions in this latest draft."

The worries expressed by some groups that are members of the new In Defense of Freedom coalition include: the ease with which police could eavesdrop on the Internet, expanded information-sharing between police, the CIA and similar agencies, and potentially intrusive surveillance of users by their Internet providers.

During Wednesday's markup session, which began at 2 p.m., committee members introduced a slew of amendments -- but, citing the interests of time and cooperation, withdrew nearly all of the proposed changes that did not enjoy overwhelming support.

Among the amendments that the committee approved:

A study of how biometric identification systems -- tied to the FBI fingerprint database -- could be used at U.S. borders and consular offices to nab anyone wanted for a crime. The attorney general has 90 days to prepare a report.

An attempt to limit "forum-shopping" by prosecutors seeking wiretap orders. Since the Patriot Act gives courts the power to order wiretapping anywhere in the U.S., Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) said she was worried that "it would encourage the government to engage in forum searching. If the court that issues the warrant is far from the defendant, it becomes difficult for the person to contest it."

Assurance that Internet providers, which will be required to cooperate with law enforcement's requests for surveillance of users, won't be forced to retool their networks just for police convenience. That amendment was introduced by Rick Boucher (D) and Bob Goodlatte (R) of Virginia.

Allowance for individuals to sue police who leak information obtained in a wiretap. The sponsor, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), described it this way: "If information gained during surveillance is improperly released, you have a right to go in and sue, with a minimum award of $10,000. If someone goes in and wins, the head of the agency which released the information must either initiate action against the leaker or will have to explain why this action was not taken."

The Patriot Act's sponsors, House Judiciary chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), tried to talk committee members out of making additional changes, saying the bill could be reworked in the next few days before the full House voted on it. Rep. Howard Berman (D-California) said that one section of the Patriot Act gives any company that suspects an unauthorized intrusion a broad right to monitor what the suspected trespasser is doing.

"It doesn't limit the intercepts the government can take to or through. It seems to allow a non-judicially authorized tap of a unauthorized computer user or to monitor their computer," Berman said.

Replied Sensenbrenner: "Gentleman makes a good point. We'll take a look at it between now and the floor."

Rep. Goodlatte wanted a better definition of what kind of information police could obtain without a court order.

The Patriot Act increases the utility of the FBI's Carnivore's surveillance system when used in address-only mode, meaning e-mail addresses of correspondents are recorded but not the body of e-mail messages. Any U.S. attorney or state attorney general could order the installation of Carnivore or other Internet wiretaps in emergency situations without obtaining a court order first.

"I'm referring to things like subject, header and what might be typed in below a URL," Goodlatte said. "If someone was to follow you around on the Internet they could get quite a dossier on someone. It would be good if it made it clear that this legislation did not include content."

Sensenbrenner promised to "work on getting the appropriate language in the committee report."

Some members worried about expanding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a law that created a secret court for spy-related investigations that now would be broadened and made more powerful.

Rep. Scott described an Orwellian society that would arise if police receive the power to wiretap any phones a suspect might use: "Even pay phones will be tapped under this tag, or a neighbor's phone that the subject may use. If this (amendment) is not adopted anyone using the corner payphones might have their conversation listened in on."

Replied Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Massachusetts): "There is a part of FISA appropriate to outline the minimization procedure."

Scott eventually withdrew his amendment.

Another anti-terrorist bill is being written by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont). Leahy's bill, which appears to be gaining support in the Senate, is called the "Strengthening Our Domestic Security Against Terrorist Act."

Leahy's staff are negotiating with the Bush administration over what sections will remain in the final bill.

The Patriot Act stands for "Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism."

Ben Polen in Washington contributed to this report