Whether the Patriot Act is a violation of civil liberties or an attempt to better protect the American people remains foggy for some.

The act, originally scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2005, received two extensions, the latter of which expires Friday. The Senate passed the act on March 2 with an 89-10 vote and the House of Representatives passed it Tuesday with a 280-138 vote, exceeding the two-thirds majority by only two votes. The bill is scheduled to warm President George W. Bush’s desk Friday to await signature.

Ed Yohnka, director of communications for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois said the group felt Congress “settled for a watered-down version of the original bill.”

“In our view, Congress missed a great opportunity to engage in reform of the Patriot Act,” Yohnka said. “As an example, the amended act renewed does not get at many of the fundamental issues that caused concern for so many Americans in the first place, including the fact it still allows law enforcement officials to see and search our most intimate and personal records without any individualized suspicion. The threshold for ceasing and searching those records does not require the FBI to demonstrate the person’s records being searched include anything having to do with terrorism.”

Congress first passed the Patriot Act on Oct. 24, 2001, six weeks after 9/11. The bills provisions aimed to better the country’s national security by giving the government the rights to do “sneak and peek” searches into records of those suspected of terrorist activity, including education, business, library and health care records. From its original state, the act was forced to adopt modifications regarding limitations on government investigations, wire-tapping and prosecution on grounds thereafter.

Dr. Daniel Kempton, associate professor and political science chair, said the revisions to the act warrant a step forward in homeland security.

“I think the newly-revised act is an improvement,” he said. “They have, in a couple of instances, more carefully defined sections that were prone to civil rights abuses and I think they should leave tools for the prosecution of terrorism.”

Kempton said some parts of the act are necessary, but suspects further visitation of the act in the future will bring more improvements through practice and application of the new clauses.

“It was such a dramatic change in U.S. law that it’s going to take some time [to determine] which components of the Patriot Act are fully necessary and which ones will need more restraints placed on them. I do think it’s a step forward,” he said.

One of the most-debated clauses in the act permits the FBI to search library records of any person suspected of terrorist activity.

Eileen Dubin, chair of the DeKalb County Democratic Party and former librarian, said she does not think the bill is sensitive enough to allow government officials to acquire personal files.

“In most instances, libraries wouldn’t give out information of the patrons,” she said. “That’s very personal. I feel very strongly about getting records from libraries.”

The bill has undergone 16 provisions, 14 of which are permanent while the other two will require reauthorization in two years.

Despite the revisions, Dubin said she is still not for the act.

“I think there are still a lot of things that need to be done better,” Dubin said. “It’s almost a unilateral bill.”

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) applauded the renewal of the Patriot Act and the tools it promises for ensuring the protection of American families in a statement released Tuesday.

“I’m pleased that we are sending the Patriot Act to President Bush to be signed into law,” he said. “We have seen in recent months that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network continue to plot to do harm to American citizens, so we must remain vigilant.”