Sen. Sununu Backs Bill to Reform Patriot Act

Proponents of the bill say they want to fix the patriot act to ensure that it doesn’t violate civil liberties.

New Hampshire's junior Senator, John Sununu, calls the SAFE Act common sense.

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"It doesn't undermine the Patriot Act because we believe that there are certain allowances that are necessary to strengthen our national security, given the threats that exist from terrorism, but we can do it while protecting civil liberties."

For one thing, the bill revises the so-called "sneak and peak" section of the Patriot Act.

That provision allows the FBI to get a judge's permission to search a suspect’s homes without informing them.

The American Civil Liberties Union has voiced concern about that section and is actively endorsing the SAFE Act.

Charlie Mitchell is an ACLU legislative counsel.

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"Under the Patriot Act, with these delayed notice searches, the government could come in, search your house, and even take items from your house and not notify you for an indefinite period of time, and this bill says seven days."

The government could get additional seven-day extensions by proving that informing the suspect would seriously undermine the investigation.

THE bill's supporters consider this a moderate revision.

Patriot Act proponents consider it - and other SAFE Act provisions - unnecessary at best and dangerous at worst.

Paul Rosensweig is a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

He says the outcry over the delayed notification of searches is overblown.

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"We've been doing delayed notification since the 1970s to fight the war on drugs, the war against the mob, white collar crime, //4:10 The Patriot Act takes what we've been doing for a long time with regular crime and says let's do it in terrorism as well."

Rosensweig feels the same way about a Patriot Act provision that allows the FBI to search personal information including library records and business transations.

Groups like the ACLU worry that provision isn't specific enough about whose records can be examined.

But Rosensweig says that's not the case.

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"Right now, to get a FISA warrant, the government has to show probable cause to believe that the person whose information is being sought is an agent of a foreign power and that the investigation is connected to terrorist activity."

The SAFE Act would require the government to show evidence that the target of the surveillance is a suspected spy or terrorist.

The Justice Department has not responded to NHPR's requests for comment.

But a spokesman has been quoted as saying that any attempt to "water down" the Patriot Act would make America just as vulnerable as it was before the September 11th attacks.

Senator Sununu denies any intention to undermine the act.

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"We don't go out and try to eliminate or undermine the idea of a sneak and peak warrant, but we add a firm, fixed time horizon for notification. We don't seek to eliminate the idea of a roving wiretap but add specificity so that you have to either designate the target or the location. I think these are pretty common sense approaches."

The ALCU agrees.

Charlie Mitchell is thrilled that Senator Sununu is sponsoring this legislation.

He's especially hopeful that he'll be able to get New Hampshire's Senior Senator, Judd Gregg, on board as well.

Gregg chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Justice Department.

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"For this bill to have any action this year, it's going to need the support of Senator Gregg. // We're very hopeful that Senator Sununu can talk to his colleague from New Hampshire and convince him that this is the type of fix that's a moderate fix that can pass this year."

Gregg has not taken a position on the bill.

He said in a statement that it's important not to violate civil liberties in the fight against terrorism.

But he added that as long as government powers are subject to judicial review, there are many cases where law enforcement needs the Patriot Act's tools to protect national security.

For NHPR News, this is Judith Smelser in Washington.