The outcry over the 2001 antiterrorism law known as the USA PATRIOT Act manifested itself in new Senate legislation last week. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, authored the measure, S. 1695, which would expand the “sunset” provision in the PATRIOT Act so that additional government surveillance powers granted in the statute would expire after five years. The bill’s backers said the measure would let Congress review whether the goals of the law are being met. Craig, meanwhile, introduced an additional bill that would amend the PATRIOT Act. The measure, S. 1709, would limit the use of surveillance and the issuance of search warrants. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., addressed another homeland security issue in new legislation: background checks. His bill, S. 1665, would allow employers looking to hire private security officers to submit fingerprints or other means of identification to state identification bureaus in order to check the applicants’ records for crimes. Full Story
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