FOES OF PATRIOT ACT FORCE VOTE ON LIBRARY, BOOKSTORE RECORDS

Lawmakers who say portions of the USA Patriot Act went too far are
taking aim at its provision that made it easier for investigators to
learn what people are reading - despite a veto threat from the White
House.

The House planned to vote today on a proposal by Rep. Bernard Sanders,
I-Vt., that would prevent the government from using the Patriot Act to
demand records from bookstores and libraries. The election season
showdown is the latest over the law, which President Bush has sought
to expand but which Democrats and some conservative Republicans say
has infringed on individual rights.

Sanders was planning to offer his amendment to a bill providing $39.8
billion next year for the departments of Commerce, Justice and State.
That is $2.2 billion more than this year's total and $240 million
beyond what Bush proposed for 2005.

The Senate has yet to write its version of the bill. But in votes
Wednesday, the House voted:

By 221-194 to overturn new Bush administration restrictions on the
gift parcels that Americans can send to family members in Cuba, in a
rebuff to the president dealt by Democrats and nearly four dozen farm
state and free trade Republicans. The vote came just four months from
an Election Day in which Bush would like to once again win Florida,
the pivotal state in his 2000 victory, by gaining the support of that
state's Cuban-Americans.

By 268-148 to let the federal government continue prosecuting people
who use marijuana for medical reasons in states where local law allows
its use by patients. By that vote, the House rejected an amendment by
Democrats and some conservative Republicans that would have barred the
federal government from blocking the medical marijuana laws of Alaska,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

As the House debated the spending bill Wednesday, the White House
budget office sent a memo to lawmakers warning that if an amendment
"that would weaken the USA Patriot Act were adopted and presented to
the president for his signature, the president's senior advisers would
recommend a veto."