LIVE BLOG: Patriot Act Showdown!

Welcome! C4L Staff, Norm Singleton, Tim Shoemaker, and Megan Stiles will be live blogging the action in the Senate tonight here. Be sure to hit refresh!

Also there is still time to call your Senators and tell them to vote NO: 202-224-3121.

You can watch the proceedings live on C-SPAN.

4:01 PM: Megan: Senate is now in session after opening prayer.

4:04 PM: Megan: McConnell asks that the first hour be divided equally between R’s and D’s.

4:05 PM: Megan: To recap, the expiring provisions of the Patriot Act (including section 215 which the government has been using to justify its bulk data collection on all Americans) are set to expire at midnight tonight, unless the Senate Acts. Campaign for Liberty opposes any legislation that extends the Patriot Act.

4:08 PM: Norm: McConnell asks to recess at 5 which suggests he doesn’t have the votes.

4:09 PM: Norm: Harry Reid is now attacking McConnell for acting like Reid did when he was majority leader.

4:10 PM: Megan: Harry Reid still sporting his sunglasses.

4:12 PM: Megan: Reid calling for Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act. FYI this still extends the Patriot Act and allows bulk data collection.

4:14 PM: Norm: Harry Reid says the only way to extend the Patriot Act is the pass USA Freedom Act. (This is why C4L OPPOSES USA Freedom Act)

4:16 PM: Megan: Senators going back and forth between talking about how the end is near if the Patriot Act expires and offering condolences to the Biden family.

4:17 PM: Tim: When the Senate finally gets down to business they will try to ram through the USA FREEDOM Act. It’s the only vehicle to extend the expiring provisions. And Americans are being told this “reform” bill is what you and I must settle for. Americans must demand more — keep calling your senators this evening 202-224-3121

4:21 PM: Megan: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on USA Freedom Act: “Just take it up and pass it!”

4:23 PM: Norm: When the Senate recesses at 5 there will be lots of behind-the-scenes deal-making and arm-twisting, this is a key time so Campaign for Liberty members need to keep up the heat…call their senators and get your friends and family to call. (202-224-3121) When I called my senator, Mark Warner, he had staff answering the phones on a Sunday!

4:30 PM: Norm: Senator Leahy is praising USA FREEDOM as “bipartisan compromise”…yep as they say we live in a two party system, the stupid party and the evil party. Sometimes they work together to pass legislation that is both stupid and evil and then they praise themselves for being bipartisan.

4:33 PM: Norm: Sen. Leahy wants USA FREEDOM’s critics to come up with their own ideas…ok how about following the Fourth Amendment?