WASHINGTON, July 21: The House of Representatives, ignoring protests from civil liberties groups and some conservatives, moved on Thursday to renew the USA Patriot Act giving the government unprecedented powers to investigate suspected terrorists. Sixteen provisions of the 2001 law, hastily enacted in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, are due to expire at the end of this year unless renewed by Congress. President George W. Bush has repeatedly called on lawmakers to make the entire law permanent.
The House was poised to reauthorize the act with some minor changes designed to increase judicial and political oversight of some of its most controversial provisions. Republicans said the latest explosions in London showed how urgent and important it was to renew the law.—Reuters
