WASHINGTON – House Republicans used an extra-long vote to derail a drive to weaken the USA Patriot Act, handing a campaign-season victory to President Bush and angering Democrats and GOP conservatives who led the unsuccessful effort.
“You win some, and some get stolen,” said conservative Rep. Butch Otter, R-Idaho.
He was a lead sponsor of the provision that would have prevented authorities from using the anti-terrorism law to demand information on book buyers and library users.
The proposal, which had drawn a veto threat from the White House, was defeated 210-210, with a majority needed to prevail. House GOP leaders extended what is normally a 15-minute roll call by 23 additional minutes. That was enough to persuade about 10 Republicans to switch their votes to no, including Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.
Wamp said he changed his vote after being shown Justice Department documents asserting that terrorists have communicated over the Internet via public library computers.
“This new world we live in is going to force us to have some constraints,” Wamp said.
Otter and Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., led the effort to block one section of the law that lets authorities get special court orders requiring book dealers, libraries and others to surrender records such as purchases and Internet sites visited on a library computer.
The lawmakers contended the provision undermines civil liberties and threatens to let the government snoop into the reading habits of innocent Americans.
“We are all in that together,” Sanders, one of Congress’ most liberal lawmakers, said of the anti-terror effort. “In the fight against terrorism, we’ve got to keep our eyes on two prizes: the terrorists and the United States Constitution.”
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