And Then There Was One: Patriot Act Showdown Concludes With Five-Week Extension

Setting the stage for what is sure to be a month of intense and heated debate this January, the political gamesmanship of the past several weeks over the Patriot Act conference report finally concluded yesterday, but not without one final twist. In a near-empty chamber, the Senate by unanimous consent approved the U.S. House of Representative's last-minute changes to the Patriot Act reauthorization bill -- reducing the Patriot Act extension from six months to five weeks. The lone senator present was John W. Warner (R-VA), who presided over a four-minute session last night, as reported by the New York Times. President Bush is expected to agree to the five-week extension, which moves the Patriot Act's expiration date to February 3.

Despite the new timeframe, the sponsors of the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP) -- the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, and PEN American Center -- noted that the objective of the campaign has not been altered by the new deadline.

"Our goal from the beginning has been to work to help ensure that the reauthorized Patriot Act protects the rights of readers. Regardless of whatever timeframe is passed by Congress, our goal is unchanged. We will continue to do everything we can to be certain that the final version is as protective of reader privacy as possible," said Oren Teicher, ABA COO.

The Senate vote came at a little after 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, after a sparsely attended House session voted to change the Patriot Act authorization extension to February 3. The modification was made at the behest of the head of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI), who, earlier in the day, had threatened to block the six-month extension that had been passed by the Senate on Wednesday night. However, the Times noted that White House officials ultimately convinced Sensenbrenner to sign off on the five-week extension.

Patriot Act proponents and critics now expect the intense debate to continue next month. In a statement, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI) -- who led the bipartisan coalition filibuster that ultimately resulted in the six-month extension --said he preferred a shorter extension so that lawmakers can "fix the current overly broad parts of the Patriot Act as soon as possible."

Feingold also cautioned, "No one should make the mistake of thinking that a shorter extension will make it possible to jam the unacceptable conference report through the Congress. That bill is dead and cannot be revived. Supporters of that bill need to stop the political gamesmanship and get serious about passing a bill that better protects our rights and freedoms while still giving law enforcement the tools it needs to protect against terrorism." --David Grogan