Demoralized by repeated renewals of the PATRIOT Act, usual-suspect activist groups like the ACLU and American Library Association have been slow to gear up to oppose the extension of some of the law’s worst provisions — they’re due to expire at the end of the month. So it was a huge surprise that a move to extend the law was blocked today, by just a handful of votes.
And we at Demand Progress are going to claim a little credit on behalf of our members, tens of thousands of whom contacted their congressmembers through our petition in opposition to the renewal, and thousands more of whom made phone calls to their lawmakers.
WHOA: The House just voted down the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. Nobody was expecting this. This is a huge victory, made possible by the over 55,000 people who signed our petition. Keep up the pressure — add your name at EndTheSpying.com.
Kudos to David Cicilline for voting against re-authorization. The fight’s not over yet — the House Republicans will bring it back up soon, and Senate Dems are likely to follow suit, so please take action.