The Patriot Act

LJWorld.com weblogs Congressional Briefing

Posted by Joel Mathis April 28, 2005 at 9:38 a.m.

Pat Roberts links [(McClatchy Newspapers) Intelligence chiefs credit act for smoother sharing of info:][1] FBI Director Robert Mueller told the committee that the Patriot Act, enacted shortly after 9/11 to give federal agencies more authority to deal with terrorist threats, has made a "tremendous difference" in improving information sharing among U.S. agencies. ... "The alternative is a return to a failed, outdated and illogical limit on national security investigations that tied our hands prior to the 9/11 attacks," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., the committee chairman.[(New York Times) Senate finds responses to terror slow:][2] The Intelligence Committee's chairman, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, said Wednesday that the audit had left him concerned about the government's ability to conduct wiretapping, eavesdropping and other surveillance operations quickly against terrorism suspects. "I don't know what grade I would give it," Roberts said. "But it's not a 92; it doesn't rate quite that high. Maybe 70 - passing." Roberts spoke at the latest in a series of congressional hearings on the government's antiterrorism powers under the USA Patriot Act.Sam Brownback links [(Southwest Nebraska News) Nelson, Brownback to Introduce Bill to Improve Rural Health Care:][3] Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson today announced that he is co-sponsoring bi-partisan legislation with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) to assure that people who live in rural communities will have access to quality, affordable hospital care.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation [here.][4] [1]: http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=PATRIOTACT-04-27-05&cat=PP [2]: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/28/news/warrants.php [3]: http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?157335 [4]: http://ljworld.com/extra/where_to_write.html#fed