Rank-and-file reject Patriot Act
Indeed, many members were concerned about Patriot Act provisions that would allow the government to access medical and business records, GOP sources said.
And a handful of the no-votes were freshmen who felt completely uninformed by their leadership. Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.), who voted for the bill, said he “didn’t know anything about (the vote) until today.”
Continue Reading“In a free society you have to be very careful as to taking away the civil liberties of the American people” Rokita said. “Even if the bill is well intentioned and the law is well intentioned it can be used against innocent people. So that was my concern. But I’m here looking at a reauthorization at the end of the year and I’ll look at it more closely then.”
GOP leaders seemed unable to flip swing votes as the bill stalled on the floor. McCarthy and Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) cornered Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) on the floor — the Georgia appropriator didn’t flip his vote.
Twenty-six Republicans voted against the Patriot Act extension, but only eight were freshmen — Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Raul Labrador (Idaho), Bobby Schilling (Ill.), Dave Schweikert (Ariz.) and Rob Woodall (Ga.).
Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) voted against the extension, while his wife, Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), voted for it.
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Steve Israel (N.Y.) and Henry Cuellar (Texas) all voted for the bill. Committee leaders including Reps. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) also voted for the bill. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Committee Ranking Democrat John Conyers (Mich.) voted against extending the bill.
Altogether, 122 Democrats voted no, and 67 voted yes. Republican votes to back the bill numbered 210.
“I don’t how much you can read into one vote,” Hoyer told POLITICO. “After all, we’re still very early in the session, we’ve had very little business on the floor, as you’ve noticed.”
Hoyer added, “I think they’re clearly going to have difficulty. When you have their response to the State of the Union, and Paul Ryan being their choice and then Michele Bachmann also gives one, they’re clearly differences within their conference and they’re going to have to work it out.”
Other Democrats were giddy Tuesday night at the defeat. They knocked Republicans for not putting the bill through committee – something they all but promised they’d do during the midterm campaign season. And Hoyer’s office called it “another rough day for the new majority.”
Another Democratic aide put it more simply: “Governing 101: make sure you have the votes. Governing 102: make sure you understand your own members.”
John Bresnahan, Richard E. Cohen, Meredith Shiner and Scott Wong contributed to this report.
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Readers' Comments (196)
beryllium Party: NA
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Feb. 8, 2011 - 8:23 PM EST
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Feb. 8, 2011 - 8:58 PM EST
Nice to see the Ron Paul wing of the party triumphing over the Steve King wing. How do the baggers view this?
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Read all 196 comments in our forumGood for them. McCarthy is a joke. Hope he is enjoying the new tarmac at the airport in Bakersfield that we all had to pay for even though they didn't need one.
I hope the new Young Turks of the GOP can get the Patriot Act defeated. That Orwellian assault on the Constitution deserves to be allowed to expire.
A round of applause for those who refused to vote for a bill without the confidence that it is worthy of their support. It beats lining up the lemmings to vote what their leadership wants. That style and attitude gave us Obamacare.
Woohoo! Its about time, that legislation is a monstrosity.
Fixed it in the copy, but "specifically rough patch" is still in the caption, 8:45 p.m. 08 Feb 11
Perhaps if the GOP wasn't focusing so much attention on the destined to fail healthcare repeal, redefining rape, and pushing abortion restrictions they might be more aware of what is on the daily agenda. How about that jobs bill you promised us GOP????
So the US is telling Egypt to stop doing some of the same things that are in the Patriot Act. Perfect. Congrats to those that voted against this insult to the Constitution.
I'll say the same thing to Republicans and Democrats alike. The government has no ability to create jobs, unless we plan to put them on the government payroll. Stop looking for the government to solve unemployment. It will NOT happen. I don't care what some idiot running for office keeps telling you. The idiot is the one who actually believes him.
I don't recall this being a big issue with the "baggers", as you refer to them.
Good, I think the vast majority of citizens on both sides of the aisle are ready to this monstrosity of a law expire.
touche!
The constitution's framers are smiling, even if only temporarily, because habias corpus is once again a right of Americans.
Why would any informed person not be highly concerned about being detained without a time limit, without being told exactly why and without access to an attorney?
All informed and uninformed people should be concerned about this. Johncuckti seems to think this is of specific relevence to "baggers". Apparently becuase he has a problem with this group. I informed him, and you, that this was not one of their specific issues. Maybe because, like you and me, all should be concerned with this, not just the "baggers".
PINCH ME....IS THAT REALLY TRUE. MAYBE THERE IS HOPE FOR AMERICA YET
The fourth amendment expressly forbids domestic eavesdropping:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue but
upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized.
The Department of Homeland Security is the equivalent of the KGB and needs to be dissolved. As Ben Franklin so aptly put it "They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
@JohnCuckti
Ron Paul IS the founder of the Tea Party.
So I am not really sure what you are implying here.
The Tea Party's view is to abolish the patriot act, end the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, and bring all the troops home.
I guess you are watching to much propaganda by the MSM, instead of actually doing research on what the tea party is really about. We hated George Bush as much as the Liberals did from 2004 forward.
The fight in the republican party is the Tea Party Vs Neo-Cons. But I guess that doesn't really fit the media's script to admit that the Tea Party agrees with the liberals on foreign policy, it makes it harder to demonize them.
Twenty-six Republicans voted against the Patriot Act extension, but only eight were freshmen — Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Raul Labrador (Idaho), Bobby Schilling (Ill.), Dave Schweikert (Ariz.) and Rob Woodall (Ga.).
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s...
I hope the new Young Turks of the GOP can get the Patriot Act defeated. That Orwellian assault on the Constitution deserves to be allowed to expire.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s... Republicans voted against the Patriot Act extension, but only eight were freshmen — Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Raul Labrador (Idaho), Bobby Schilling (Ill.), Dave Schweikert (Ariz.) and Rob Woodall (Ga.).
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s...
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