Kevin Bankston of EFF updates us on the progress of Conyers’ PATRIOT renewal and reform bill, the USA Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 (HR 3845):
The mark-up got off to a somewhat worrisome start when Chairman Conyers introduced a “manager’s amendment” making numerous changes to the bill to address concerns raised by the Obama Administration about some of the bill’s reforms. We have a copy of the amendment and a description of the changes it makes to the bill. Based on a very quick review, most of the changes seem relatively minor, but they are definitely not an improvement from a civil liberties perspective. So, once again, the Obama Administration is quietly working to stop reforms to the PATRIOT Act even though Senator Obama was one of the PATRIOT Act’s staunchest critics.
Read more on EFF.