Patriot Act in the House
Resolution Intrdouced on Downing StreetMore on RovegateIt was a long, busy day, and its very late, so I will be brief.
First, I am very proud of the way the Democrats and many Republicans rose to the occasion to deal with the Patriot Act today. We had a very focused debate, concentrating on several specific abuses --going after books and library records; national security letters; sneak and peak; and the lack of sunsets. We had a great motion to recommitt, that is to say our final amenmdent offered before the bill came up when we tried to resunset the expiring provisions in four years so we could continue to have the ability to oversee the law. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Dana Rorbacher (R-CA) offered this amendment, and it almost passed. Every Democrat voted for it and several Republicans, failing by a 209-218 margin. On final passage 171 Members voted against renewal without these sunsets, a far greater number than voted no four years ago. This is a case where all our hard work in educating Americans about the risks to their civil liberties has paid off, and we will continue to push for improvements in conference with the Senate. In the meantime,
Bradblog has a copy of my floor statement opposing the bill, and
Rawstory has a copy of our full 70 page dissent against the Act and the excesses of the Administration's war against terror (if you have time, its worth a read -- let me know your thoughts and comments).
Second, Barbara Lee and I (and 24 other Members) introduced a resolution of inquiry asking the Admininistration to turn over documents on Downing Street.
Bradblog has this story. The next stop is a vote in the International Relations Committee, either next week or when we return from recess.
Finally, I just noted that
Bloomberg as a breaking story on possible perjury actions against Rove and Libby in connection with the outing of Valerie Plame. I'm sure this will come up at our hearing tomorrow with Senate Democrats and in Saturday's town hall meetings and hosue parties.
I guess i wasn't that brief.
Blogged by JC on 07.21.05 @ 11:20 PM ET
Edited to add link:
http://www.conyersblog.us/
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