In a stinging defeat for US President George W. Bush, Senate Democrats blocked passage of a new Patriot Act to combat terrorism at home, depicting the measure as a threat to the constitutional liberties of innocent US citizens.
Republicans on Friday spurned calls for a short-term measure to prevent the year-end expiration of law enforcement powers first enacted in the anxious days after Sept. 11.
"The president will not sign such an extension," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican, as lawmakers on each side blamed the other for congressional gridlock on the issue.
The Senate voted 52-47 to advance a House-passed bill to a final vote, eight short of the 60 needed to overcome the filibuster backed by nearly all Senate Democrats and a handful of the 55 Republicans.
"We can come together to give the government the tools it needs to fight terrorism and protect the rights and freedoms of innocent citizens," said Democratic Senator Russell Feingold, arguing that provisions permitting government access to confidential personal data lacked safeguards to protect the innocent.
"We need to be more vigilant," said Senator John Sununu, a Republican from New Hampshire, where the state motto is "Live Free or Die."
He quoted Benjamin Franklin: "Those that would give up essential liberty in pursuit of a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security."
But Frist likened the new bill's opponents to those who "have called for a retreat-and-defeat strategy in Iraq. That's the wrong strategy in Iraq. It is the wrong strategy at home."
Republican Senator John Kyl, said, "If 90-plus percent of the Democrats vote against cloture, and 90-plus percent of the Republicans vote for cloture, it is hard to argue it is not partisan."
Cloture is a Senate term that refers to ending a filibuster.
Much of the controversy involved powers granted to law enforcement agencies to gain access to a wealth of personal data, including library and medical records, in secret, as part of investigations into suspected terrorist activity.
The bill also includes a four-year extension of the government's ability to conduct roving wiretaps -- which may involve multiple phones -- and continues the authority to wiretap "lone wolf" terrorists who may operate on their own, without control from a foreign agent or power.
During debate, several Democrats pointed to a New York Times report that president Bush had secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on individuals inside the US without first securing permission from the courts.
"Today's revelation makes it crystal clear that we have to be very careful," Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said.
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