US President George W Bush has signed the renewal of the controversial Patriot Act just ahead of the expiry of most of its counter-terror provisions introduced after the September 11, 2001 attacks, including expanded powers to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate terrorism.
Bush made permanant most of the provisions that were to expire Friday, saying the Patriot Act was a vital tool in the war against terrorism.
"The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do," Bush said during a signing ceremony Thursday in the White House East Room.
"It has helped us detect terrorist cells, disrupt terrorist plots and save American lives. It will improve our nation's security while we safeguard the civil liberties of our people," Bush said while reminding that America remained at war against terrorism.
With the renewal, the president gave permanency to 14 provisions of the Patriot Act and extended two others by four years.
The renewal, in the words of Bush, will allow law enforcement to continue "pursuing terrorists with the same tools they use against other criminals".
But the badly bruised White House has been unable to shake off persistent criticism that the law falls far short of what civil rights activists and groups expected.
Most of the provisions of the act were set to expire Friday and the close finish at the wires clearly indicated problems that the Bush administration faced in Congress.
The White House had to reluctantly settle with some of the Congressionally demanded changes especially as it pertained to civil liberties.
But not all on Capitol Hill were content with the Patriot Act's renewal.
A leading Democratic critic Senator Russel Feingold, seen as a potential 2008 Presidential candidate, called the bill "deeply flawed" and has vowed to continue the fight for more safeguards.
"Today marks, sadly, a missed opportunity to protect both the national security needs of this country and the rights and freedoms of its citizens," he said in a statement.
The signing ceremony at the White House Thursday took place against the backdrop of yet another political firestorm on Capitol Hill, again related to terrorism, over an Arab owned company taking over port operations in six major cities in the United States.
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