Congressional Republicans are maneuvering to eliminate "sunset clauses" contained in the sweeping Patriot Act legislation passed after September 11, in an effort to make the laws permanent. The hotly debated act, which affects everything from broadband to cell phone privacy, have granted U.S. intelligence and law enforcement services unprecedented rights in monitoring U.S. citizens in their quest to eliminate terrorism. You can find the Electronic Frontier Foundation's analysis of the laws here, the Electronic Privacy Information Center's analysis here, and the New York Times story on the plans to keep it around here.