Pat Dollard

Tweet

Forward this to every leftist you know who has ever complained about the Patriot Act. The unbelievable hypocrisy dripping from every pore of this vote is viscous enough to spread on toast, and deep enough to drown a giraffe in. Just when I thoughts nothing the left can do will surprise me anymore, this comes along and blows my mind all over again.

The Heritage Foundation:

Congress voted yesterday to extend essential provisions of the USA Patriot Act that were set to expire this Sunday. The 315-97 vote in favor of reauthorizing the three sun-setting provisions is a necessary step towards better protecting Americans from terrorism.

Once President Obama signs the bill into law he will extend the executive branch’s authority to employ effective and proven counterterrorism tools, which is especially important following recent events such as the Fort Hood shooting and attempted Christmas Day bombing.

The Heritage Foundation’s Dr. James Carafano and Alane Kochems write, “The Patriot Act provides means to facilitate information sharing, allows law-enforcement authorities employed to combat other crimes to take part in terrorism investigations, and establishes mechanisms for conducting surveillance of modern technologies, like cell phones.”

The three provisions in need of reauthorization have been important tools in the preventing terrorist attacks against the United States following September 11. First, the “Roving Wiretap” provision allows law enforcement to track suspects across different modes of communication as they try to evade detection. Second, renewal of the Business Record Order gives law enforcement the authority to request information about a suspect from a third party with approval from a FISA court, ensuring the protection of American civil liberties. Lastly, Congress reauthorized the “Lone-Wolf” provision, giving law enforcement the ability to track suspects not acting under orders from a foreign state or known terrorist organization.

Some lawmakers expressed concern over reauthorizing these important provisions, but there is no doubt they make America safer. “Despite repeated attempts to demonstrate abuse, little evidence has ever been proffered to demonstrate any Patriot Act misuse,” argues Jena McNeil. “In fact, at times the Patriot Act offers significantly more protections than available under common criminal investigations.”