Senate may block Patriot Act

It looks like the full Senate may be poised to block the Patriot Act conference report when it comes before the body. Yesterday, I wrote about how the conference committee tossed out the reforms the Senate had previously put in which curb the most egregious parts of the act.

Also, earlier this week the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Civil Liberties Union joined forces to limit the current reach of the Patriot Act.

From Bloomberg:

The lobbyists are focusing on two particular provisions of the law. One of them, which allows investigators to use so- called National Security Letters to request records, has been invoked about 30,000 times a year, according to the Washington Post. The Justice Department won't confirm that number, saying it's a secret.

The business and rights groups -- which include the Washington-based National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which represents 47,500 attorneys, judges and law Professors -- are asking that the new version of the law require more judicial oversight of the requests, a position that is opposed by President George W. Bush.