Patriot Act extension approved by Congress; American civil liberties denied

The United States Senate and House of Representatives have both approved an extension on the Patriot Act this week and have passed it to President Obama to sign.

The Act is set to expire on Sunday if President Obama does not sign it, but officials believe that he will approve the legislation due to mounting pressure from Congress. If signed by President Obama, the Patriot Act will be reinstituted in full until February 28, 2011 and will allow the government to continue the use of moving wiretaps and seizing documents along with the infringement of many other American civil liberties.

The Senate passed the extension Wednesday evening thus sending it to the House which also passed it last night. There was no debate in extending the Act and approval was declared by an overwhelming majority voice vote of 315 to 97. What a convenient way for Congressional members to hide their actions so as not to be affected by angry constituents come election time in November. A voice vote erases the possibility of accountability since there is no official record of how each member voted. It’s ironic to see how Congress is careful to protect its privacy while voting to freely invade the privacy of American citizens.

The legislation aims to temporarily extend the three expiring provisions of the act for one year. While the Senate aims to reauthorize all three provisions, the House bill proposes eliminating the “lone wolf” provision. This stipulation allows the government to “track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power.”

The other two provisions passed for renewal were “roving surveillance,” which means the government can follow a surveillance target regardless of where they travel and “business (and library) records,” which allows the government to request personal paperwork on the person under investigation.

Under the Act, the government can access this information from American citizens without their knowledge and without probable cause. Furthermore, they can issue a “gag order” preventing the investigated citizen from knowing about the government‘s activity. In addition, a felony can be issued if the party requested to provide the information informs the person under investigation. This means that if your employer was asked to provide certain information about you to the government and they told you, they would be charged for doing so.

The extremes that this act allows the government to go to is incredible. Not only are they being allowed to go against fundamental American civil liberties, but they are also allowed to hide that from the investigated citizen. Basically, you will only know they are after you if they want you to know. According to last month’s Reuters report the FBI collected over 2,000 U.S. phone records “by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist or by persuading phone companies to provide them.”

The Patriot Act is a clear violation of more than one right given in the Constitution to American citizens. The Act violates the first amendment, which gives Americans the freedom of speech, and the fourth amendment, which protects citizens from searches without required warrants, gives them the right to know they are being searched and even the need for probable cause.

Moreover, the Act also violates citizens’ sixth amendment ensuring the right to a fair trial. Under the Act authorities can freely detain witnesses as terrorist suspects for an unspecified length of time. While this was initially intended for non-citizens, many citizens have already come to learn through the news and even through personal experience that the definition of “enemy combatants” is very vague and can be aimed at citizens as well.

It is upon the most urgent need that every voter seriously reconsider reelecting these representatives in November. It‘s important to know who you are voting for, and it‘s more important to stay informed on the decisions Congress is making every day on your behalf.