Byron York in today's Washington Examiner reminds us that some parts of the Patriot Act are due to expire in December. This expiration occurs just as we have uncovered terrorist plots being planned within America.
There are three provisions of the Patriot Act that have to be renewed every four years. The last time they came up for renewal, the Republicans controlled Congress and they were renewed. Renewal this time will be more complicated--some of the Democrats have said that they do not want to renew all of the Patriot Act.
According to the article:
"Congress put time limits on three of its most far-reaching provisions: "Roving wiretaps," which allow investigators to keep up with suspects who use dozens of
cell phones to avoid being traced; "business records" authority, which lets investigators ask a special national-security court for access to records of a suspect's dealings with private businesses; and the "lone wolf" provision, which allows investigators to track individual terror suspects even if they are not a member of a terrorist group, like al Qaeda. Congress renewed those provisions in 2005 and now must give them another four-year renewal, or they will disappear."
Some Democrats want to change some part of each of these three provisions. Please see the article for the specifics and the overall impact of any changes. We have no excuse for not being aware that there are attacks being planned against us and no excuse for not doing everything we can to prevent being attacked. I hope the Democrats in Congress realize that.
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