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Originally Posted by theking
BTW...most of the "extraordinary" parts of the Patriot Act had "Sunset" clauses. Just recently the Sentate Judicial Committee held hearings on the Patriot Act and said "Sunset" clauses. I watched the entireity of the hearings on C-Span.
The head of the CIA...FBI...and the Attorney General were vigorously interrogated about the Patriot Act. I found all of them to be forth coming in their answers...including Attorney General Gonzales. I saw Attorney General Ashcroft when he was before the Senate Committees and he hedged his answers. Attorney General Gonzales did not.
It is immaterial...now...that the Patriot Act was ram-rodded through by the previous Congress...as it has now been fully veted before the current Congress.
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The fact that you 'find people forth coming in answers' is immaterial to the fact that the law stripped people of rights they once had as afforded by the fourth amendment and backed by volumes of standing case law. "Forthcoming" means little more than that they believe in what they're signing on to as being a good idea. Gonzales was also quite forthcoming with the memo issued on the legality of the use of torture.
There was
no sunset clause on provision 213. Police can still 'sneak and peak' on any suspect at any time for thin cause with no notification. Provision 215, the ability to obtain secretly private records has been sunsetted. There is at least 35 instances of this clause being invoked since September 2003.
As for 'fully vetted', I daresay not. Some of the provisions have been sunsetted, but without a full and public hearing of the abuses of those provisions prior. That happened a little over a month ago. Additionally, just before the sunset provisions came into effect, the administration was pushing for investigators to be able to get Tax, Medical and Library records
with NO need for judicial approval. Even the pro-act'ers balked at removing that last slender defence.