USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization in Brief (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 15, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RS22216 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Charles Doyle, American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Both Houses have approved proposals to reauthorize USA PATRIOT Act sections scheduled
to
expire at the end of the year. The House passed H.R. 3199 on July 21, 2005, 151 Cong.
Rec. H6307; the Senate, S. 1389 on July 29, 2005 (although the Senate substituted its
language for that of H.R. 3199 and then passed H.R. 3199; for convenience the
Senate version of H.R. 3199 is referred to as S. 1389 here). This is a sketch of
those bills and how they differ. Their common provisions deal mostly with expanded federal
authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act (ECPA). The bills make permanent all but two of the temporary USA PATRIOT Act
sections. They postpone the expiration of the two, dealing with FISA roving wiretaps and the so-call
library or business records authority. In these two, the national security letter statutes, and some of
the other USA PATRIOT Act provisions make sometimes parallel and sometimes individualistic
adjustments. H.R. 3199 contains a number of features not found in S. 1389
including a first responder grant program, new capital offenses and adjusted capital punishment
procedures, sections that in large measure replicate the seaport crimes portions of S. 378
(as reported), a substantial expansion in federal forfeiture authority in terrorism and money
laundering cases, and expansion of federal wiretapping authority to embrace investigations into
twenty crimes for which the authority did not previously exist. A more detailed version of this report
is available as CRS Report RL33027 , USA PATRIOT Act: Background and Comparison of
House-
and Senate-approved Reauthorization and Related Legislative Action .
