House answers Bush's call, extends Patriot act

President Bush urged members of Congress in his State of the Union address Tuesday to renew expiring portions of the USA Patriot Act, the controversial anti-terrorism legislation passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. \nThe House answered his call Wednesday, extending the law for five weeks. The Senate is expected to agree on a similar extension soon, according to The Associated Press. Last December, Congress renewed 16 divisive sections of the law, which will expire Friday unless the Senate comes to an agreement.\n"I think people should be debating whether it should be renewed," said IU political science professor Bill Scheuerman. "If you sit back and ask, 'Has this helped us?' I think that's up in the air."\nMost of the Patriot Act is permanent law. But when Congress initially authorized the legislation in 2001, it agreed to allow the most contentious provisions to expire after four years. Now the debate is raging in Washington over whether to renew these sections again, make them permanent or negotiate new legislation.\nIU professor of linguistics and First Amendment expert Paul Newman said members of Congress have had plenty of time to think about the effects of the legislation. \n"It's very clear that there are a number of positions in the Patriot Act that stink," he said. "Why do they need another few months to decide this thing stinks?"\nIU College Republicans Political Director David White said his organization supports the move by the House to extend the Patriot Act. He said the law allows anti-terrorism operations to function efficiently. \n"As far as we're concerned, it's vital to national security," White said.\nBut opponents say it violates civil liberties and would like to see the law reformed. The revelation last month that the president authorized the National Security Agency to monitor international phone conversations and e-mail messages originating in America without a warrant has only intensified the dispute.\n"What you have here is a president who's above the law," Newman said.\nHe said the NSA spying controversy demonstrates the result of a government operating with few checks on its power. But he said he believes it will be some time before the American public realizes the "negative impact" of the Patriot Act. \nNewman said it is a challenge for groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union to convince average Americans that the Patriot Act legislation, like the NSA spying case, is harmful to their way of life. \n"The reality of life is that all of us only react to things that affect us personally," he said.\nThe most controversial sections of the law allow the government to delay notification to individuals whose private property has been searched and require businesses or organizations to hand over personal records of individuals suspected of terrorism.\nFran Quigley, executive director of the Indiana ACLU said these provisions give too much power to the executive branch. \n"There are a half-dozen areas that violate the separation of powers," he said. "The principle this country has operated on is that this type of power needs to be checked by another branch of government."\nWhite said the concerns of groups such as the ACLU are overblown. \n"There's a lot of oversight," he said.\nThat has not eased the minds of critics such as Scheuerman, however. \n"It's a recipe book for any government official to do whatever they want," he said.