Idaho Reporter: Labrador Votes Against Part of Patriot Act

Posted on Feb 16, 2011

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Idahoreporter.com
By Brad Iverson-Long
February 8th, 2011

Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador was one of 26 Republicans to vote against extending some provisions in the Patriot Act, which extends the surveillance power of the national government. An effort Tuesday to extend some portions of the act failed because it didn’t garner two-thirds support in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Labrador has been in Congress just over a month, and his vote is one of his first significant breaks from the Republican majority in the U.S. House. The vote is just one step, and doesn’t mean that the extensions to the Patriot Act are dead.

“While I agree that law enforcement and national security agencies need the tools necessary to keep America safe from terrorism, when crafting policy we need to be sure we are not infringing upon the protections and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution,” Labrador said in a prepared statement.

One of Labrador’s predecessors representing Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, Gov. Butch Otter, was one of three Republicans in the House to oppose the Patriot Act when it was created in 2003.

The plan in the House would extend three parts of the Patriot Act set to expire at the end of February until the end of 2011. Those sections of the act help law enforcement perform roving wiretaps on targets, follow “lone wolf” terrorists, and get access to business records.

Idaho Rep. Mike Simpsons supports the extension, because it would give Congress more time to hold hearings on the plan. “I voted to temporarily extend these provisions so that Congress could take up the oversight work that’s necessary to ensure that the law not only provides the tools our law enforcement needs to protect the lives of American citizens, but also prevents abuse that would threaten individual rights,” Simpson said in a prepared statement.

The sponsor of the plan, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said the provisions helped protect national security. “These three provisions have helped thwart countless potential attacks since the bill was signed into law and are critical to helping ensure law officials can keep our nation safe from attack,” he said in a news release.

The House vote was 277-148 to suspend the rules to allow the plan to move forward, which was 13 votes short of the needed two-thirds majority. The extensions to the Patriot Act could still move forward under regular House rules.