The Patriot Act expires later this year. The administration is campaigning for renewal of the law, which has broad bipartisan backing. Some Congresspeople hope to make it more acceptable by modifying some of its most controversial provisions.

The latest amendment, introduced by Rep. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and backed by a group of Republicans and Democrats, would bar the FBI from using money in applying for a special court order to invoke the Patriot Act in order to obtain lists of library patrons, book sales, and other records.

Section 215, the disputed section of the act, reads, “The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or a designee of the Director…may make an application for an order requiring the production of any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism.”

It gives the political police wide latitude to demand that librarians and booksellers turn over their records in order to spy on individuals. It also imposes a gag order barring librarians from discussing such FBI “investigations.” This has been met with protests from librarian and booksellers associations among others.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in an April 5 statement before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary that he would be open to some minor changes to that section of the law as long as the Patriot Act as a whole is renewed.

The law, passed just following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, expands the powers of the federal police to carry out arbitrary searches and seizures in private homes and businesses, to wiretap phones and personal e-mail, and to jail immigrants without charges as “terrorist suspects,” among other provisions.  
 
 
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