WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted to end a filibuster and moved closer to renewal of the USA Patriot Act.
Senators voted 96-3 Thursday to stop debate regarding a compromise on the Patriot Act. All three of the senators who voted to keep debate going were Democrats and include Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001. He described recent changes in the bill as cosmetic.
The act was passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and gave the government extended powers to look into information such as business and library records. Privacy advocates have decried the measure.
Some aspects of the act were to expire at the end of 2005 but the White House sought to make the bill permanent. Congress gave the act short extensions, the most recent of which will end March 10. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., plans a vote March 1 on the current bill wording, The Washington Times reported.
Feingold's opposition continues, however. He told the Times, "No amount of cosmetics can disguise the fact that it fails to protect the rights and freedoms of law-abiding Americans."
