Summary
House, Senate to resolve differences Several portions of the Patriot Act including the section dealing with library records will expire in October unless Congress renews them. The Senate and the House have passed competing versions and are expected to resolve their differences after they return to Washington from summer recess in September. The Senate version generally places more restrictions on the government than the House version does. Among the changes: * The Senate version would extend the library-search power for another four years, while the House would extend it for 10 years. * Both the House and Senate versions would impose a stricter standard for obtaining library records. But the Senate version goes farther, requiring that records sought pertain to a foreign power, an agent of a foreign power or a person in contact with a suspected agent. The House version requires only a showing that the records be relevant to a counterterrorism or counterespionage investigation. * The House version would require the FBI director approve a request for records from a library or bookstore. The Senate would mandate that the FBI director or his deputy must sign off on demands for library, bookstore, firearms or medical records. * Both the Senate and the House would allow recipients to challenge an order before the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but the Senate version would allow the recipient to challenge the order and the gag rule preventing disclosure of the order. * Both versions would make clear that a person could consult a lawyer without violating the gag rule.
WASHINGTON - Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., urged Congress to reauthorize the landmark Voting Rights Act, saying Saturday that failing to do so would imperil 40 years of progress for black voters.See the full content of this document
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Congressman Urges Renewal of Voting Act
In the weekly Democratic radio address, Lewis said his par...
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