109th Congress / Senate / 2nd session / Vote 29

• Question: On the Conference Report
• Bill: H R 3199
• Vote description: H.R. 3199 Conference Report; USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005
• Vote type: 1/2 (Help)
  A simple majority of those present and voting is required for approval or passage.
• Result: Agreed to, 89-10, with 1 not voting.
• Date/time: March 2, 2006, 3:01 p.m.
• Republican majority opinion: Yes (Help)
  The position of more than 50 percent of voting Republicans. "None" means an equal split between "Yes" and "No."
• Democrat majority opinion: Yes (Help)
  The position of more than 50 percent of voting Democrats. "None" means an equal split between "Yes" and "No."

Key Vote Analysis

With this vote the Senate reauthorized the 2001 USA Patriot Act. The original bill, passed the wake of the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks, gave federal law enforcement authorities broad new powers to pursue those suspected of terrorist or espionage activities. A Washington Post report said the original bill made it "easier for federal agents to secretly tap phones, obtain library and bank records, and search suspected terrorists' homes." Proponents of the bill, including the Bush administration, argued the bill gave law enforcement the necessary tools to prevent and disrupt potential terrorist attacks. Opponents asserted that the parts of the law gave law enforcement officials too much authority to infringe upon the privacy of regular citizens.

Most of the measures in the 2001 bill were only authorized for four years, which required Congress to take up the matter again in 2005-2006. Original action on the bill was blocked in the Senate 2005 by four Republicans and a majority of Democrats who demanded that safeguards be put in place to protect against abuses of the law. Those safeguards included ending the use of "National Security Letters," which did not require a judge's approval, in order to obtain some forms of electronic information. Senators also added a provision that would allow the recipients of a "215 subpoenas," which are issued by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court, to challenge "gag" orders that prevented them from disclosing the fact that they had received a subpoena. In the end the Senate and the House voted overwhelmingly to renew nearly all of the original Patriot Act's provisions and the president signed the reauthorization bill into law on March 9, 2006.

See other key votes in the 109th Congress

Vote totals