Bingaman Delivers With Votes Against Patriot Act

Core Democrats have been very critical of Senator Jeff Bingaman's votes on such issues as the bankruptcy bill, CAFTA and the Alito filibuster. However, I think it's important to applaud him when he steps up to the plate and takes a brave stand.

He made two such stands yesterday to stop the Patriot Act as currently constructed. Senator Bingaman was among a handful of Democrats willing to confront the Bush administration on a number of repugnant anti-democratic provisions that remain in the Patriot Act. These actions are on a par with Senator Bingaman's vote against the Iraq War in terms of drawing a line in the sand against BushCo follies, and I think he should be commended. You can contact Senator Bingaman here.

According to Bingaman's office, "Senator Bingaman feels that the conference report does not adequately address Patriot Act provisions he is concerned about, including: sneek and peak provisions and access to library and medical records."

On the cloture vote to halt debate on the Patriot Act, which passed in the Senate 84-15 with Sen. Inouye not voting, Sen. Bingaman voted no along with 13 other Democratic Senators:

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Maria Cantwell (D-OR)
Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Sen. Bingaman also voted against the Reauthorization of the Patriot Act itself. Unfortunately the bill passed the Senate yesterday 89-10 with Sen. Inouye again not voting. Sen. Jim Jeffords, an Independent, also voted against this measure. The list of Democrats who voted no according to the Washington Post:

Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Why generally progressive Senators like Boxer, Cantwell, Dayton, Dodd, Durbin and Sarbanes voted against ending debate (essentially, for a filibuster) and then went ahead and voted for the Patriot Act itself is beyond me. I guess the Republican noise machine's eternal bleating about Dems being "soft on terrorism" is still scarier than we think to some Dems.

I am particularly peeved at our Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid, who made this weak and inane statement about Democrats who voted for the Act:

Our support for the Patriot Act does not mean a blank check for the president.

Heavy, Harry, heavy.

The ACLU released this statement on the Senate vote:

The Senate today failed to take steps to fully protect the fundamental freedoms and privacy of all Americans. The Patriot Act contains too many intrusive powers that lack meaningful checks and balances. We applaud the efforts of those Senators who sought to include much needed reforms in the Patriot Act reauthorization bill and stood firm in their commitment to protect our freedoms. The Patriot Act debate is far from over: secret record searches must be reformed so they are focused on suspected foreign terrorists and not used to invade the private records of ordinary Americans. Congress can, and must, take steps to fix the Patriot Act to keep America both safe and free.

Here's Senator Russ Feingold's floor statement against the Patriot Act.

I suppose there is some hope left given that Senator Arlen Spector has indicated he will revisit the Patriot Act to make some changes to add "extra protections," but I won't hold my breath.