The lone wolf provision was created to conduct surveillance on suspectswith no known link to foreign governments or terrorist groups.
The Obama administration supports extending three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, the Justice Department told Congress in a letter made public Tuesday.
Lawmakers and civil rights groupshad been pressing the Democratic administration to say whether it wantsto preserve the post-Sept. 11 law’s authority to access businessrecords, as well as monitor so-called “lone wolf” terrorists andconduct roving wiretaps.
The provision on business records was long criticized by rights groups as giving the government access to citizens’ library records,and a coalition of liberal and conservative groups complained that thePatriot Act gives the government too much authority to snoop intoAmericans’ private lives.
As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama said he would take a closelook at the law, based on his past expertise in constitutional law.Back in May, President Obama said legal institutions must be updated todeal with the threat of terrorism, but in a way that preserves the rule of law and accountability.