The Justice Department will put into action additional oversight of the Patriot Act, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday.

Patrick Leahy (photo by Andrew Ramonas / Main Justice)

Panel Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who introduced Patriot Act renewal legislation last year, urged Attorney General Eric Holder in March to implement safeguards for the use of Patriot Act even though they are not required by law.

In a letter to Leahy dated Tuesday, DOJ Inspector General Glenn Fine wrote that the DOJ Office of the Inspector General plans to review many of programs for which Leahy asked for additional oversight.

“[W]hile our review may not address every one of the specific provisions that were contained in [Leahy's bill], we anticipate that the results of our review will address many of the important issues reflected in the oversight provisions that were part of that bill,” Fine wrote.

The Senate Judiciary approved the legislation in October that would reauthorize the “lone wolf,” business records and “roving wiretap” powers in the Patriot Act and require additional civil liberties and oversight protections for four years.

The full Senate has yet to vote on the bill. The House Judiciary Committee also approved a Patriot Act extension bill that has since stalled on the House floor. The House bill includes the civil liberties and oversight protections, but the legislation would only renew the records and “roving wiretap” authorities.

The House and Senate bills also call for more restrictions on the use of national security letters, which are used by the FBI to obtain evidence without a court order.

In the letter, Fine said the review would look into the use of national security letters and the business records provision of the Patriot Act, as well as other issues.

A DOJ Inspector General report released in January found that the FBI inappropriately secured phone records through informal requests by post-it notes, telephone, e-mails and what the FBI called “sneak peeks.”

With the provisions set to expire at the end of 2009, Congress temporary extended the powers through Feb. 28, 2011, but did not include any of the proposed civil liberties and oversight provisions.

Here is a summary of the provisions:

• Lone wolf: Allows the government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision only applies only to non-U.S. persons. It has never been used by the government.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, whether or not others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) urged Attorney General Eric Holder last month to use his authority to implement additional oversight of the Patriot Act.

Patrick Leahy (Getty Images)

In October, the Senate Judiciary approved a measure that would reauthorize the “lone wolf,” records and “roving wiretap” powers in the Patriot Act and require additional civil liberties and oversight protections for four years. The full Senate has yet to consider the legislation. The House Judiciary Committee also approved a Patriot Act extension bill that has since stalled on the House floor. The House bill includes the civil liberties and oversight protections, but the legislation would only renew the records and “roving wiretap” authorities.

With the provisions set to expire at the end of 2009, Congress temporary extended the powers through Feb. 28, 2011, but did not include any of the proposed civil liberties and oversight provisions.

In a letter to Holder dated March 17, 2010, Leahy suggested that the Attorney General should implement the additional oversight even though it is not required by law.

“The one-year extension should not become an excuse to defer implementation of the important civil liberties and enhanced accountability provisions of [the Senate bill] and subsequent negotiations that received the support of the administration,” Leahy wrote in a letter released Monday. “We should work together to ensure that these important accountability provisions are realized without delay. A number of the improvements that were included in the bill should not require statutory changes.”

Here is a summary of the provisions:

• Lone wolf: Allows the government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision only applies only to non-U.S. persons. It has never been used by the government.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, whether or not others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

The House and Senate bills also call for more restrictions on the so-called national security letters, which are used by the FBI to obtain evidence without a court order.

A Justice Department Inspector General report released in January found that the FBI improperly obtained phone records through informal requests by e-mail, post-it notes, telephone and what the FBI referred to as “sneak peeks.” The House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on the Inspector General report Wednesday.

Leahy urged Holder to implement measures included in the Senate bill to improve accountability in the use of the national security letters.

“We now know that the National Security Letter authority was significantly misused,” Leahy wrote. “That is why I fought hard to retain a sunset for National Security Letters in our legislation, in addition to an audit.”

Holder has said he backs the Senate bill, but he hasn’t publicly commented on the House legislation.

The Attorney General is slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a DOJ oversight hearing Wednesday.

Justice Department Civil Rights Division chief Tom Perez assured Hispanic leaders and activists gathered for the Latino 2010 Census Summit on Capitol Hill Wednesday that personal information collected from the Census is confidential and will not be used against respondents.

Tom Perez (photo by Andrew Ramonas / Main Justice)

Earlier this month, Assistant Attorney General Ron Weich told leaders of the congressional Asian Pacific, Black and Hispanic caucuses that the Patriot Act would not force Census officials to turn over personal information for law enforcement purposes.

Some minority groups have questioned whether the Patriot Act or other laws would force Census officials to hand over identifying information obtained from census forms to law enforcement authorities.

“I am here to tell you on behalf — not simply of the Civil Rights Division — but on behalf of the Department of Justice that the answer to that question is absolutely not,” Perez said.

Perez, who worked on the 2000 Census during the Clinton administration, said he is spending a lot more time combating fears about the 2010 Census, which households across the United States will receive this week. He said it is important for minorities to respond to the Census because it helps their communities and allows his division to better enforce civil rights laws.

“We have a self interest in the division to ensure that this works,” Perez said. “We have a broader self interest because as a voice for the underserved in this nation, we want to make sure we work with our partners to address the critical needs of the Census Bureau.”

The Justice Department is trying to ease fears among minority groups about the confidentiality of information provided for the U.S. Census, The Washington Post’s Federal Eye reported today.

In a letter to the leaders of the congressional Asian Pacific, Black and Hispanic caucuses dated Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Ron Weich said that information-sharing provisions in the Patriot Act would not force Census officials to turn over personal information for law enforcement purposes.

“The long history of congressional enactments protecting [Census] information from such disclosure, as well as the established precedents of the courts and this department, supports the view that if Congress intended to override these protections, it would say so clearly and explicitly,” Weich wrote.

Civil rights activists applauded the clarification, according to the Federal Eye.

“As we have been going around doing our outreach to local community leaders — whether religious leaders or community activists — many people have been asking whether the Census is confidential,” Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, told the blog. “The Patriot Act has been passed since the last Census, so what we wanted to do was eliminate any doubt that the Patriot Act has an impact, and it does not.”

The census forms this year will ask 10 questions including a person’s name, gender, age, ethnicity or race, the number of people in the household and their relationships with one another, and if they own or rent. The questionnaires also will request a phone number that census officials can contact if they need to clarify a response.

The Census Bureau, a component of the Commerce Department, has spent millions 0f dollars to reach out to minorities who might be skeptical about participating in the Census, according to the Federal Eye.

President Barack Obama on Saturday signed into law legislation that would temporarily extend three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act that had been set to expire.

The House took final congressional action on the measure on Thursday, voting 315-97 to keep in place the Patriot Act’s “lone wolf,” business records and “roving wiretap” powers until Feb. 28, 2011. The Senate had passed the bill by voice vote Wednesday night.

Here is a summary of the provisions that were due to expire:

• Lone wolf: Allows the government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision applies only to non-U.S. persons. The government has never used it.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, regardless of whether others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court with specific information suggesting a suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

The House today sent President Barack Obama legislation that would temporarily extend three Patriot Act provisions set to expire this Sunday.

The chamber voted 315-97 to keep in place the Patriot Act’s “lone wolf,” business records and “roving wiretap” powers until Feb. 28, 2011. The Senate approved the bill by voice vote last night. Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law.

House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said the quickly-approaching expiration date for the authorities left the House “no other choice” but to renew the powers without any modifications.

“Please understand members that this extension is not the final word on the Patriot Act,” Conyers said on the House floor.

Both the House and Senate had begun work on long-term renewals, but the bills contained major differences.

The Senate Patriot Act bill would reauthorize all of the authorities. The House version would renew the records and “roving wiretap” powers but not the “lone wolf” authority, which the government has never used. The bills also would include new oversight for the authorities.

The Senate bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee last October and is awaiting floor action. The House bill, which won Judiciary Committee approval last November, is also awaiting floor action.

Here is a summary of the provisions that are due to expire:

• Lone wolf: Allows the government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision applies only to non-U.S. persons. The government has never used it.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, regardless of whether others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

The Senate passed by voice vote Wednesday night legislation that would temporarily extend three Patriot Act provisions set to expire at the end of this month.

The bill would keep in place the Patriot Act’s “lone wolf,” business records and “roving wiretap” powers until Feb. 28, 2011. The House has yet to consider the measure.

Both the House and Senate had begun work on long-term renewals, but the bills contained major differences.

The Senate Patriot Act bill would reauthorize all of the authorities. The House version would renew the records and “roving wiretap” powers but not the “lone wolf” authority, which the government has never used. The bills also would include new oversight for the authorities.

The Senate bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee last October and is awaiting floor action. The House bill, which won Judiciary Committee approval last November, is also awaiting floor action.

“I would have preferred to add oversight and judicial review improvements to any extension of expiring provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act,” Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement Wednesday night.

Here is a summary of the provisions that are due to expire:

• Lone wolf: Allows the government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision applies only to non-U.S. persons. The government has never used it.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, regardless of whether others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D‐Mont.) and the panel’s ranking member Chuck Grassley (R‐Iowa) have agreed on language to temporarily extend three Patriot Act provisions that would expire at the end of this month.

A draft of a Senate job creation bill includes provisions that would keep in place the Patriot Act’s “lone wolf,” business records and “roving wiretap” powers until Feb. 28, 2011.

The jobs bill is regarded as a top priority, and floor action is expected this month. A stand-alone Patriot Act renewal may be more difficult to achieve this month. The House and Senate have yet to iron out their differences on whether Congress should reauthorize all or some of the authorities.

The Senate Patriot Act bill would renew all of the powers. The House version would  reauthorize the records and “roving wiretap” provisions but not the “lone wolf” authority, which the government has never used.

The Senate bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee last October and is awaiting floor action. The House bill, which won Judiciary Committee approval last November, is also awaiting floor action.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said he backs the Senate bill, but he hasn’t publicly commented on the House legislation.

Here is a summary of the provisions that are due to expire:

• Lone wolf: Allows government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision applies only to non-U.S. persons. The government has never used it.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, regardless of whether others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

House leaders will not accept a Senate plan to include the reauthorization of expiring Patriot Act provisions in a Department of Defense spending bill that must pass this month, Politico reported today.

The Defense appropriations bill will instead include a two-month extension on the three powers that would otherwise sunset at the end of the year, according to McClatchy newspapers. The House and Senate have yet to iron out their differences on whether Congress should reauthorize the “lone wolf,” records and “roving wiretap” powers.

The Senate Patriot Act bill would renew all of the powers. The House version would only reauthorize the records and “roving wiretap” provisions, and not the “lone wolf” power, which lets the government track targets who don’t have any discernible affiliation with terrorist or other foreign groups. The government has never used the “lone wolf” power.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said he backs the Senate bill, but he hasn’t publicly commented on the House legislation.

“I am disappointed that House and Senate leaders were not able to reach an agreement to enact the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act before December 31,” Leahy said in a statement. “More than two months ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported legislation to extend these expiring provisions for four years, and to strengthen congressional oversight of these intelligence and law enforcement tools.”

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D- N.Y.), a House Judiciary Committee member, told McClatchy the extra time would help Congress work out its differences on the bill.

“A lot of people don’t want to extend it without giving [the Patriot Act] a good scrubbing,” Weiner told McClatchy. “A lot of guys on Judiciary want a full debate on it.”

Here is a summary of the provisions:

• Lone wolf: Allows government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision only applies only to non-U.S. persons. It has never been used by the government.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, whether or not others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed the Senate’s version of legislation that would extend three provisions of the Patriot Act that are slated to expire at the end of the year.

Eric Holder (DOJ)

Holder wrote in a letter today to Senate Judiciary Committee members that he offers “strong support” for the USA Patriot Act Sunset Extension Act, which would reauthorize the “lone wolf,” records and “roving wiretap” powers. By contrast, a House version of the bill would not continue the “lone wolf” provision, which lets the government track targets who don’t have any discernible affiliation with terrorist or other foreign groups.

The Attorney General also said he backs language in the legislation that would increase civil liberties and privacy protections. The bill was reported out of committee Oct. 8.

“We believe these measures will promote appropriate standards, oversight, and accountability, especially with respect to how information about United States persons is retained and disseminated, without sacrificing the operational effectiveness and flexibility of the underlying tools need to protect our citizens from terrorism and to facilitate the collection of vital foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information,” Holder wrote in the letter.

Here is a summary of the provisions:

• Lone wolf: Allows government to track a target without any discernible affiliation to a foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. The provision only applies only to non-U.S. persons. It has never been used by the government.
• Business records: Allows investigators to compel third parties, including financial services and travel and telephone companies, to provide them access to a suspect’s records without the suspect’s knowledge.
• Roving wiretaps: Allows the government to monitor phone lines or Internet accounts that a terrorism suspect may be using, whether or not others who are not suspects also regularly use them. The government must provide the FISA court with specific information showing the suspect is purposely switching means of communication to evade detection.

But the Attorney General said he wasn’t entirely supportive of the bill’s language on national security letters, which are used by the FBI to obtain evidence without a court order. The Senate bill put more restrictions on the letters.

“While we are very pleased to be able to support the bill, we do have some concerns that we are working with the Committee to address before the measure reaches the floor,” Holder wrote.

The House version of the bill, which was reported out of the House Judiciary Committee last week, would also add more restrictions on the letter and increase civil liberties and privacy protections. But the legislation would only reauthorize the records and “roving wiretap” provisions and not the “lone wolf” power.

Holder has not publicly commented on the House version of the bill.