U.S. President George W. Bush Thursday urged Congress to renew the Patriot Act, a controversial anti-terrorism law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on the U.S., dpa reported. Several of the provisions in the law are set to expire at the end of this year and Congress must approve their renewal. "My message to Congress is clear: The terrorist threats against us will not expire at the end of the year, and neither should the protections of the Patriot Act," Bush said in a speech to the Ohio Patrol Training Academy. The president pointed out that the law was passed with broad bipartisan support and has helped fight terrorism, for example by leading to the breakup of al-Qaeda cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia and Florida. But opponents of the law say the Patriot Act is eroding civil liberties and a growing number of lawmakers who supported the first version of the law now want to make changes to it. Among their concerns is that the law allows law enforcement agencies to exchange information without the usual restraints, to obtain the library records of U.S. citizens, and to break into their homes without notifying them for weeks. --More 2312 Local Time 2012 GMT
