President Obama and other administration officials put on a full-court public press Friday to get the Senate to extend expiring provisions of the Patriot Act.
While citing specific benefits of two provisions, they said the “lone-wolf” provision facilating surveillance of individuals unaffiliated with known terror networks was critical even though it has never been used.
“Sunday at midnight, a whole bunch of authorities that we use in order to prevent terrorist attacks in this country expire,” Obama told reporters from the Oval Office after meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The House-passed USA Freedom Act “not only continues authorities that currently exist and are not controversial — for example, the capacity of the FBI or other law enforcement agencies to use what’s called a ‘roving wiretap’ …Those authorities would be continued.”
“What the USA Freedom Act also does is it reforms the bulk data collection program of significant concern and that I promised we could reform,” Obama said, without mentioning the benefits of the lone-wolf provision.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed the lone-wolf provision had never been used, echoing the intelligence community and lawmakers who support the USA Freedom Act, he said that as the potential grows for unaffiliated people egged on by the Islamic State and other radical Islamic groups to launch attacks, the authority is needed.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper spelled out its benefits in a statement released Friday afternoon.
“We would lose entirely an important capability that helps us identify potential U.S. based associates of foreign terrorists,” if the Senate doesn’t extend the Patriot Act provisions or pass the USA Freedom Act by midnight Sunday, he stated.
“I don’t want us to be in situation where … those authorities go away and suddenly we’re dark, and, heaven forbid, we suddenly have a problem… simply because of inaction in the Senate,” Obama said. “I expect them to take action; and take action swiftly.”
FBI Director James Comey previously said, “If I lose these tools, it’s a huge, huge problem.”
