Democratic congressman John Conyers, minority leader of the House Judiciary Committee, called the Patriot Act “...one of the worst laws this body has ever passed.” I couldn’t agree more.
The Republican House leadership wanted to extend the bill, since certain provisions are set to expire next month. The Obama administration also wanted to extend the bill to 2013.
Under some arcane House rule, a 2/3rds majority was need for the extension. Sixty-seven Democrats favored the extension; 122 voted against. Had they been united, the Republicans would have had enough votes to reach the 2/3rds needed. They weren’t united; 26 Republicans, mostly Tea Party types, voted no. They thought this was too much federal intrusion into private affairs.
One of the provisions slated to expire gives the feds access to a suspect’s private materials, including library records. I never thought I would see John Conyers and the tea party people on the same side on anything, but I’m happy they were. The Patriot Act was a bad bill, completely unpatriotic, and passed in a panic. Let it die.
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