Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner has answered the question asked here yesterday as to whether he still opposes renewing the parts of the Patriot Act set to expire at the end of the year. F. Jim has introduced a bill to renew the Patriot Act including those provisions he previously opposed.

The article in the Post says F. Jim's bill would eliminate expiration dates from the Patriot Act if the legislation is approved. The provisions set to expire this year allow the FBI to obtain records without a warrant from financial institutions and libraries among other private entities.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, the lone vote in the Senate against the original Patriot Act, released this statement today:

"I am disappointed that Senators Specter and Feinstein have introduced their Patriot Act reauthorization bill today without the additional meaningful fixes that members on both sides of the aisle believe are necessary to protect our freedoms. In its current form, I cannot support this bill, but I hope we can work together to improve the legislation in the coming weeks."