The Four Courageous Republicans

Senator Majority Leader Bill First (R-Tenn) stated that "the Patriot Act expires on December 31, but the terrorist threat does not. Those on the Senate floor who are filibustering the Patriot Act are killing the Patriot Act."

The majority leader, the President, and the National Republican Committee Chairman have naturally blamed the Democrats who are in near unanimous agreement to uphold the filibuster. But they fail to note that there are four senators who have crossed party lines to join with the Democrats (all except two are their side that are voting against the Patriot Act).

They are Larry E. Craig (Idaho), Chuck Nagel (Nebraska), John E. Sununu (N.H.), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).

They come from states where their constituents are somewhat distrustful of the federal government and believe that there should be more civil liberties safeguards added to the proposal renewal of the Patriot Act. The federal government has too much power and it can target people with national security letters and special subpoenas that give the FBI overly excessive powers in deciding what records should be surrendered.

You would have expect that Republican senators who are moderates from Maine and Rhode Island to be against the Act, but this time these four senators are pretty much conservative.

Senator Hagel pretty much summed it all up in one sentence, "I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president."

While it's true these four are getting angry calls from Republican activists, lobbyist firms, and other colleagues, the constituents that have elected these four remain mostly in agreement with them.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman stated that "it's wrong to put politics before national security." How can this be politics when these senators are doing what is right for their constituents? Yes, we are all concerned with national security, but what about upholding the civil rights of each American. Honestly, it's better to have Bush take the 3-month extension because it preserves the Act to stay in effect without expiring at the end of the year. He is a lame duck, and he knows he cannot no longer maintain a 100% hold on his party to vote for his agenda. If this was the beginning of his second term, or after he was re-elected, then passing the renewal of the Patriot Act would happen quite easily.

It is probably likely that the Patriot Act will expire without any progress in negotiations, but a compromise will be reached in January where the Act will be put back into effect, but with the necessary safeguards to placate the four Republican senators as well as a considerable number of Democratic senators. Thus, the administration can be satisfied with a bi-partisan agreement. But somehow it won't be that pleasant.

Washington Post - 4 GOP Senators Hold Firm Against Patriot Act Renewal