Patriot Act Reauthorization is Passed by Senate

Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.org. [Update]: The roll call vote has been posted.

The US Senate has passed the Patriot Act Reauthorization.  The last few days have seen Senator Feingold (D-WI) opposing the bill essentially on his own as the compromises of the Sununu amendment were not adequate to protect civil liberties in his opinion.

If only the united Democratic voice would speak as Feingold did.  However, only 9 Senators joined him in voting against the reauthorization.   Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and James Jeffords (I-VT) have voted with him.

The roll call vote will be/is on Senate.gov.

It is positive that we do see proud Democrats step up and register their opposition to this reauthorization.  In light of the current doubts about the NSA's activities, I don't see how we can trust this administration to execute the Patriot Act with any good faith or credibility.

Additional Nay's: Byrd (D-WV), Murray (D-WA), Bingaman (D-NM), Wyden (D-OR).

In other Senate news, Senator Byrd offered a resolution calling for an independent commission to investigate the NSA's illegal domestic spying program.  DailyKos.com has a front page article on this right now.