ACLU: Mend Patriot Act

WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday urged moderate changes in the U.S. Patriot Act to check what the organization called its sweeping powers.

The call came as the Senate Judiciary Committee examined the act, the 2001 law enacted weeks after the Sept. 11 terror attacks that broadened some law enforcement powers.

"Congress must reform the Patriot Act provisions that go too far, not make it a permanent part of our law," said Lisa Graves, ACLU senior counsel for legislative strategy.

Critics of the law single out section 215, which gives law enforcement the authority to get a secret court order to access the records of libraries, gun stores, medical offices, banks and other businesses, and to require the businesses not inform the target of the investigation.

The ACLU said it also has concerns with another provision, section 505 of the Patriot Act, which expands the FBI's power to obtain some records in national security investigations without any court approval at all.