The House of Representatives is challenging President Bush again by defying one of his veto threats; this time it’s regarding the Patriot Act.
Update [2005-6-15 19:44:3 by Man Eegee]:
For a comprehensive look at how the law changed the way libraries operated, check out this link
Also, be sure to read The Maven’s comment below regarding Rep. Bernie Sander’s reaction to the amendment, which he sponsored.
Details below the fold…
The House voted Wednesday to block the FBI and the Justice Department from using the anti-terror Patriot Act to search library and book store records, responding to complaints about potential invasion of privacy of innocent readers.
Despite a veto threat from President Bush, lawmakers voted 238-187 to block the part of the anti-terrorism law that allows the government to investigate the reading habits of terror suspects.
The vote reversed a narrow loss last year by lawmakers complaining about threats to privacy rights. They narrowed the proposal this year to permit the government to continue to seek out records of Internet use at libraries.
Last year, a similar provision was derailed by a 210-210 tie tally after several Republicans were pressured to switch their votes.
In the meantime, a number of libraries have begun disposing of patrons’ records quickly so they won’t be available if sought under the law.
AP via Yahoo News (Emphasis Mine)
The only reason these Orwellian tactics weren’t reversed last year was because the Republican leadership twisted some of their members’ arms behind their back until they cried Uncle (Rove).
This is a small victory for the Democrats who finally woke up to the fact that maybe the Congress went a little too far in rolling back our personal rights as Americans in the aftermath of 9/11. (I’m kidding folks, I hate the “Patriot” Act).
So keep your heads up, we’re starting to see some W’s in our column that are worth having. Now if we can just get rid of the other W…
As a big time book buyer I am going to spend some time doing super duper happy dance!
Not a big enough difference for a veto override but a HUGE step in the right direction!
Happy dancing around the desk!
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that the Republican leadership’s stranglehold on it’s members is loosening. I attribute it to their nervousness about next year’s elections and the Democrats ability to finally get some of their messages out to the people about BuchCo’s shameful tactics.
We’ve been seeing this man,,,,and I have been shouting it for awhile now, with are seeing the crumbling of the dynasty….Bushco is going down..
A tip of the hat and a summertime dip in the frogpond for Rep. Bernie Sanders (the soon-to-be Independent/Socialist senator from Vermont) who sponsored this amendment.
Here’s the complete roll call on the Sanders Amendment. Note that there were a total of 38 House GOP members who voted for sanity this afternoon. Credit — though minimal — where credit is due.
Sanders had this to say earlier this evening:
We’ll have to see what the vote is on the final measure to know whether it becomes veto-proof at that point. There’s also a chance, of course, that it gets stripped out in behind-closed-door negotiations in conference committee with the Senate. Offhand, I’m not sure about the status of a similar change to the Patriot Act in that chamber.
That finger print thing was pretty amazing. I’m glad to see things swinging back.
for sharing that link. Incredible…. These steaming piles of turd need to be discarded immediately.
Great news! Thanks Manny. Now getting more Dems back in the house and senate so we can trash this whole Patriot Act thing all together!!!
Wow, good news for a change! I have a feeling we’ll get drips and drabs of good news over the next few months, as more and more Republicans remember there is a vote coming up. And that they are now attached to an unpopular president.
Man Eegee, you should repost your first diary, the one on immigration. It was really good, and at the time it was just us tadpoles here. I think it would make for good conversation now that there are more people.
diary tonight about immigration. I meant to post it earlier but got insanely busy at work. The Patriot Act thing jumped out at me though when I was checking headlines via my RSS feed (woohoo!). I’ll post a link to my first diary in the new one when I post. Thx for reading it!
I’m taking to balloons, streamers and confetti to my dear library ! Par-TAY !!!