The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a two-month extension of the USA PATRIOT Act, key provisions of which were set to expire Dec. 31.

The U.S. Senate had tried to tack PATRIOT Act renewal onto a Pentagon spending bill. The House balked. The action kicks the renewal debate into the new year.

Judiciary committees in both chambers have passed new versions of the law, extending its authority until 2013. But the versions differ, and compromise has not been reached on a final bill.

A major difference is the future of National Security Letters (NSLs), non-court warrants issued by the executive branch that are used to sweep up a range of information, from a person’s financial records to library book borrowings.

The online Washington newszine, Politico, reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “would have none” of the Senate bid to rush through the PATRIOT Act renewal, “telling her colleagues that the Democratic base across the country is already upset about President Barack Obama’s decision to escalate U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.”

The Obama administration has strongly supported renewal of the act. The Senate bill largely acceded to the administration’s wishes, except for some new oversight of surveillance activities. The House bill was tougher.

Three revisions of current law that the ACLU would like to see are:

• Changing the mass international communications collection program authorized under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 so that it is targeted at individuals and is not used for vacuum cleaner-like collection.
• Amending the “material support” statute to make sure innocent people aren’t prosecuted for giving money to charities that somewhere down the road may end up passing resources to a listed terror organization – even if the resources were just food, water, or medical assistance to those in a war-torn area. There must be intent to aid the listed organization.
• Amending the NSL provision so it is once again limited to investigations of suspected terrorists, with judicial review. Arbitrary “gag” orders should be eliminated, as courts have ruled.

For more information:

• ACLU testimony on the Patriot Act given to House Judiciary Committee
• Huffington Post account of Senate Judiciary Committee hearing (included in story is a link to a YouTube video of Sen. Russell Feingold questioning Department of Justice officials about “sneak-and-peek” searches).