Permanent Minority. A group of Senate Democrats, including Jay Rockefeller, supported legislation in the Intelligence Committee that expands the Patriot Act to allow the government to “subpoena records without the approval of a judge or grand jury.”
Toward the Majority. Every Democrat except Oklahoma Representative Dan Boren and two absentees voted for a pro-privacy amendment by Bernie Sanders that prevents the FBI from using the Patriot Act to obtain citizens’ library or bookstore records without a proper warrant. Because of that unity, the amendment passed.
David SirotaDavid Sirota is a journalist, nationally syndicated weekly newspaper columnist, and radio host. His weekly column is based at The Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Portland Oregonian, and The Seattle Times and now appears in newspapers with a combined daily circulation of more than 1.6 million readers. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine and The Nation and hosts an award-winning daily talk show on Denver's Clear Channel affiliate, KKZN-AM760. He is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and a Huffington Post contributor and appears periodically on CNN, The Colbert Report, PBS, and NPR. He received a degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He lives in Denver with his wife, Emily, son Isaac, and his dog, Monty.