FIRST STEM CELLS, NOW THE PATRIOT ACT

You might recall that the House approved a bill to allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research for embryos donated from IVF clinics. A similar bill is pending in the Senate and Bush has threatened to veto either version.

The House now has gone against Bush again and voted to eliminate a particularly intrusive portion of the Patriot Act and, again, Bush has threatened to veto it.

Here are the details:

House Votes To Curb Patriot Act
FBI's Power to Seize Library Records Would Be Halted
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff WriterThursday, June 16, 2005; Page A01
LINK

The House handed President Bush the first defeat in his effort to preserve the broad powers of the USA Patriot Act, voting yesterday to curtail the FBI's ability to seize library and bookstore records for terrorism investigations.
Bush has threatened to veto any measure that weakens those powers. The surprise 238 to 187 rebuke to the White House was produced when a handful of conservative Republicans, worried about government intrusion, joined with Democrats who are concerned about personal privacy.
House Administration Committee Chairman Robert W. Ney (Ohio), one of three House Republicans who opposed the Patriot Act when it was enacted in 2001, voted yesterday to curtail agents' power to seize the records.
"Everybody's against terrorism, but there has to be reason in the way that we fight it," Ney said. "The government doesn't need to be sifting through library records. I talked to my libraries, and they felt very strongly about this."
The measure was supported by 38 Republicans and opposed by 186. Among the Republicans who voted for it were Reps. Jack Kingston (Ga.), Ron Paul (Tex.), C.L. "Butch" Otter (Idaho) and Ray LaHood (Ill.).