A major battle in the struggle to preserve American freedoms in the face of the Bush administration’s overwrought security concerns was won on the floor of the United States Senate on Friday as the upper body refused to reauthorize major portions of the USA Patriot Act.

According to the Associated Press, critics had complained that the act infringed too much on Americans’ privacy and liberty. The vote deals a major defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders.

In a crucial vote early Friday, the bill’s Senate supporters were not able to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote was 52-47.

President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Republicans congressional leaders had lobbied fiercely to make most of the expiring Patriot Act provisions permanent.

They also supported new safeguards and expiration dates to the act’s two most controversial parts: authorization for roving wiretaps, which allow investigators to monitor multiple devices to keep a target from evading detection by switching phones or computers; and secret warrants for books, records and other items from businesses, hospitals and organizations such as libraries.

Full AP story

Tags: Domestic Surveillance, Patriot Act

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