Patriot Act Set to Pass House

After an historical vote bringing together both the Tea Party and the Progressives. The bill which seeks to extend parts of the Patriot Act has now become “emergency legislation” which has passed committee 7 to 2. Basically what that means is that extending the Patriot Act no longer needs a 2/3 majority but instead a simple majority to pass.  The vote is set for today.

The three provisions which the Obama adminstration and both moderate Democrats and Republicans seek to pass are.

• The”roving wiretap” provision allows the FBI to obtain wiretaps from a secret intelligence court, known as the FISA court, without identifying what method of communication is to be tapped.

• The “lone wolf” measure allows FISA court warrants for the electronic monitoring of a person for whatever reason — even without showing that the suspect is an agent of a foreign power or a terrorist.

• The “business records” provision allows FISA court warrants for any type of record, from banking to library to medical, without the government having to declare that the information sought is connected to a terrorism or espionage investigation.