2008 Woodie Awards
Gonzales urges Patriot Act's renewal
Frank Davies ; Knight Ridder Newspapers
Issue date: 4/13/05 Section: News
WASHINGTON--Pledging conciliation with Congress, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told senators Tuesday that he would accept some modifications to the USA Patriot Act, but he urged that all its major provisions be renewed to effectively fight terrorism.
"Thanks in part to the act, we have dismantled terrorist cells, disrupted terrorist plots and captured terrorists before they could strike," Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Acknowledging criticism from the right and left, Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller said they wanted to assure Congress that the act's new search and surveillance powers had been used narrowly and not to monitor the reading habits or personal data of a broad range of people.
Gonzales also admitted that the Justice Department "took too long" to report to Congress on how the act had been used. He promised to "treat those who express concerns about the Patriot Act with respect and listen to their concerns with an open mind."
Several members of the committee said this conciliatory approach was in sharp contrast to John Ashcroft, Gonzales' predecessor, who refused to respond to requests for some records and once said that administration critics were indirectly helping terrorists.
"The attorney general has now announced that he too recognizes that our concerns are not so far-fetched," said Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., who cast the lone Senate vote against the act, which gave the FBI broad new police and surveillance powers. "I welcome this sea change in the administration's attitude."
The Justice Department also released new information Tuesday on how the act has been used. Perhaps the most controversial section--allowing searches of such personal information as medical records and book selections at public libraries--has been authorized only 35 times by a special surveillance court, Gonzales said.
He said no library, medical or gun-sale search orders had been sought under the Patriot Act, though Mueller said later that the FBI had obtained some library records by request, without using the act.