GovExec.Com

01/03/06

When Congress reconvenes this month, one of the first chores facing lawmakers will be reauthorizing the expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, and newly disclosed documents could become a factor in the debate. ... President Bush signed the short-term extension into law Friday, so lawmakers now have about a month to negotiate their differences over the civil-liberties protections in the Patriot Act. Those opposing the current long-term reauthorization bill could have more rhetorical ammunition by the end of the month, as documents from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit trickle out of FBI offices. The Electronic Privacy Information Center early last year filed a FOIA request but received few documents until a federal district judge in November ordered the FBI to produce 1,500 pages of documents every 15 days until the requests are fulfilled. EPIC is scheduled to receive the latest batch of documents Wednesday...

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33086&dcn=todaysnews


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp