Wednesday, March 02, 2005

While Alberto pushes for swift action on Patriot Act

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday pushed for swift Senate votes on judicial nominees and prompt congressional renewal of the USA Patriot Act to aid the fight against terrorism. Luckily some lawmakers want to fine-tune portions of the act that may unduly infringe on civil rights. Senator Patrick Leahy ,the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee said that the Justice Department has been slow to provide detailed reporting on the use of these tools [allowed in the Patriot Act] and to demontrate why they should be extended beyond the end of the year.

Judicial nominees are also a contentious subject. Senate Democrats charge that several Bush nominees to appeals court slots are conservative idealogues or otherwise unsuited to be confirmed. The last thing I think we need to do is rush this stuff through before scrutinizing it.

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