Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.) teamed with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.) this week on a proposal to ??¢â???¬?????renew??¢â???¬ the Patriot Act, while rolling back the provisions allowing the government to obtain roving wiretaps and acquire materials such as business and library records during terrorism investigations. Specter and Feinstein would renew 14 of the 16 provisions scheduled to sunset in December, but phase out sections 206 and 215 in 2009.
Also, House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R.-Wis.) led his committee last week in voting to sunset sections 206 and 215. But Sensenbrenner??¢â???¬â???¢s plan, unlike Specter??¢â???¬â???¢s, would keep the sections alive for 10 more years.
In Britain, meanwhile, native-born terrorists blew up three subway trains and a bus.
