WASHINGTON — Congressional foes of the USA Patriot Act are forcing a showdown in the House of Representatives that highlights aspects of the Act that critics say go too far. Despite a White House veto threat, Rep.WASHINGTON — Congressional foes of the USA Patriot Act are forcing a showdown in the House of Representatives that highlights aspects of the Act that critics say go too far. Despite a White House veto threat, Rep. Bernanrd Sanders, I-Vermont, has introduced legislation that would stop law enforcement officials from using the Patriot Act to demand records from libraries and book stores.
“Every American wants to fight terrorism vigorously, but they want to do it in a way that does not undermine basic Constitutional rights,” Sanders said.
“American citizens … have made it very clear that they do not want the government monitoring their reading habits when they walk into a library or a bookstore.”
Congressional critics of the USA Patriot Act include a large number of Democrats, joined by a smaller group of conservative Republicans and independents.
The White House budget office has sent a memo to lawmakers warning that the Sanders bill would likely be vetoed by President Bush if passed, but it remains doubtful that the Republican-led Congress would force Bush to make such a high-profile move in an election year.
“If legislation were presented to the president that includes any provision that forces the courts to allow notice to criminal suspects before a search warrant is executed, the president’s senior advisors would recommend that the president veto the bill,” the White House budget office said in a statement.
“If any other amendment that would weaken the USA Patriot Act were adopted and presented to the president for his signature, the president’s senior advisors would recommend a veto.”
Sanders, one of the more outspoken critics of the Patriot Act, says that countless municipalities, state governments and libraries oppose sections of the Act that intrude on privacy rights.
“How can the president say that we are a beacon of freedom when he is working to cut back the very freedoms that Americans have fought and died for?” Sanders said in a statement.
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