Senate battles looms over extension of Patriot Act News
Senate battles looms over extension of Patriot Act

[JURIST] Republicans in Congress will look to give final approval to an extension of the Patriot Act [JURIST news archive] powers next week, but criticism from both parties may lead to a filibuster or even defeat of the measure in the Senate. House and Senate negotiators reached a compromise [JURIST report; conference report, PDF] Thursday about the provisions of the bill, but Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid [official website] said he would oppose it. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) [official website], the only senator to vote against the original Patriot Act in September 2001, promised [statement] to do "everything he could, including a filibuster" to stop the new measure. Others stopped short of talking of a filibuster, but in a statement Feingold was joined by two Democrats and three Republicans in announcing opposition [text] to the proposal. AP has more.