The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation extending three provisions of...
The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation extending three provisions of the Patriot Act expiring May 27. In a markup Thursday, the committee voted on partisan lines 22-13 to approve HR-1800. The bill would extend by six years provisions on roving…
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wiretaps and Section 215 orders to obtain “any tangible thing,” and permanently extend a “lone wolf” provision. The committee shot down a plethora of amendments offered by Democrats. One by Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., would have required roving wiretap targets to be described with greater detail in order to avoid surveillance of innocents. But Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., said that would make it easier for terrorists to conceal their identities. Marino also called it “a solution in search of a problem” because he said there’s been no evidence of problems with the current roving wiretap provision. Johnson also offered an amendment to prevent collection of location information from cellphones and other electronic devices belonging to U.S. citizens not suspected of terrorist activities. But Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said the issue was unrelated to the legislation at hand and should be discussed at “another time and place.” The Senate Judiciary Committee in March approved a bill (S-193) to extend the expiring provisions by three years.