USA Patriot Act Survives House Vote to Weaken It
VOA News
09 Jul 2004, 14:06 UTC

An effort to eliminate one of the most controversial parts of the USA Patriot Act was narrowly defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday.

By a final tie vote of 210-210, the Republican-controlled House defeated an amendment that would have barred federal agents from getting information from bookstores and libraries on their patrons.

The Bush administration had threatened a veto if it passed.

The amendment was supported by Democrats and some Republicans.

The initial vote was 219-201 in favor of the bill, but in a move that infuriated the bill's supporters, House Republican leaders extended the usual 15-minute voting period by 23 minutes.

That gave them time to persuade several Republicans to switch their votes.

VOA

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***Congressman Sanders had this response: "What kind of lesson are we showing the children of America, when we tell them get involved in the political process, that we are a free country, that we're fighting abroad for democracy, when we rig a vote on this floor? Shame, shame, shame!"

An outraged Congressman Steny Hoyer, number two Democrat in the House, accused Republicans of using the extension to arm twist dissenting Republicans. "If you campaigned on changing the tone in Washington. If your objective was to bring comity to this House. If your objective by voting for the Patriot Act was to protect democracy. Then protect it here. Protect it here in the people's house. Protect it here where every one of you has an opportunity say we will have a fair vote, in a fair timeframe and the majority will prevail, not the intimidated will prevail.

The uproar in the House mirrored a similar instance in early 2004 when Republicans held open a major vote on legislation to reform the medicare drug system for more than three hours to gain a victory.

Republicans, such as Congressman David Dreier, justify the tactics by recalling similar methods Democrats used when they were in the majority. "The process which we [Republicans] observed on numerous occasions when my friend's [Democrat] party was in the majority was something that did provide an opportunity for us to learn from."

Whether business as usual as Republicans portray it, or undermining of legislative civility as Democrats contend, the partisan squabbling follows the end of an informal truce between the parties on filing formal complaints over alleged violations of congressional ethics, and comes amid a sharp rise in political skirmishes as the 108th Congress approaches the end of its second session and final session on the road to the presidential election in November.

VOA