You Did It! The Patriot Act Will Not Move Forward Today

The White House push to short-circuit Patriot Act reform was soundly defeated in a Senate vote last Friday, with five Republicans joining the call for real debate. This "cloture" motion -- a precedural mechanism to limit debate in the Senate -- would have ended debate on the Patriot Act and thwarted an anticipated filibuster promised by a courageous bipartisan group of Senators who demanded reforms be made to the reauthorization bill that safeguard the freedoms of innocent Americans.

The motion for cloture failed only hours after the shocking revelation that the White House had directed the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on people within the United States, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surviellance Act, passed in response to revelations during the Nixon administration of NSA spying activity on American soil in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Senate leaders are still pushing to get their deeply flawed version of the Patriot Act reauthorization bill through the Senate. They are working hard to convince Senators to change their vote and support the cloture motion, which can be reintroduced at any time.

That is why Senators who voted against cloture and for freedom need to hear from their constituents right now! They should be thanked for their courageous stand and urged to stay strong. Senators who voted against freedom also need to be called and urged to support Patriot Act reform.

Backers of the reauthorization bill claim that they have made major improvements to the Patriot Act. Don't be fooled. Adding four-year sunsets on three provisions of the act while making the rest of the powers permanent and making the National Security Letter (NSL) powers of the FBI worse certainly does not protect our civil liberties. The Patriot Act must be fixed.

Click here to see how your senators voted and call them right now!