A reprieve for liberties.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Despite blistering attacks by the Bush administration, Congress has wisely approved a five-week extension of the USA Patriot Act. The move gives lawmakers the breathing space they need to make changes necessary to protect the fundamental rights of Americans, while also giving law enforcement officials the tools they need to combat terrorism.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Congress rushed through a deeply flawed counter-terrorism bill that gave the federal government sweeping new police powers. Some of those powers were reasonable and necessary, but others gave investigators far too much leeway to snoop into the lives of everyday Ameri- cans.

Over the past four years, the Patriot Act generated intense opposition from Americans across the political spectrum. More than 400 jurisdictions across the nation, including the city of Eugene and Lane County, have called for reforms. An improbable coalition of liberal and conservative groups, ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the American Conservative Union, joined in calling on Congress to scale back the law's excessive powers.

Despite that great outcry, a joint House-Senate conference committee produced a compromise reauthorization of the Patriot Act that failed to make the changes necessary to restore checks and balances and safeguard civil liberties. For example, the conference bill still would have have allowed the government to obtain personal records from libraries, bookstores, doctors' offices, businesses and other entities without first requiring investigators to convince judges that the information is relevant to a specific anti-terror in- vestigation.

The bill also would have prohibited libraries, businesses and other organizations receiving secret orders seeking information under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or a "national security letter" from telling anyone that those re- cords have been ordered. Such "gag" provisions could prevent Americans from ever knowing if the government had been pawing through their records - or, for that matter, what happens to those records.

While the conference bill appeared headed for passage, recent revelations of government snooping galvanized resistance in Congress. Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that President Bush repeatedly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without obtaining warrants. The Washington Post also has reported that the FBI has been issuing an average of more than 30,000 national security letters each year seeking the confidential records of U.S. citizens.

The House on Thursday regrettably balked at a six-month extension approved by the Senate, passing instead a five-week version that the Senate, desperate to adjourn for the holiday break, had little choice but to accept. Five weeks is a good start, but an additional extension may be necessary. Lawmakers must make certain they give themselves the time they need for a reasoned, thorough discussion.

When Congress resumes debate on the Patriot Act next year, lawmakers should start by formally rejecting the highly unsatisfactory conference bill, which would make all but two of the act's 16 expiring provisions permanent and allow unwarranted and unlimited fishing expeditions by investigators.

The outcome of this debate is of immense importance, not only, as the president is fond of pointing out, in the fight against terrorism, but in determining the civil liberties that Americans will - or will not - enjoy in the years to come.