The amendment - a rider on an appropriations bill for several government agencies, including the Justice Department - passed the House on Wednesday night. If it is approved by the Senate, it would block the FBI's ability for one year to get an order from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to peruse those records.

Last year, Bishop voted to remove that provision, but then changed his vote after pressure from party leaders.

He says this year's amendment was more "palatable."

"It wasn't as far-reaching as it was last time and that's probably why there were more Republicans voting for it," Bishop said.

The Patriot Act will come for reauthorization later this year, and Bishop says it needs to be tweaked.

"It needs to be modified in some way," he said. "It needs to be tightened up."

Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah's lone Democrat in Congress, also supported removing the library provision. Republican Rep. Chris Cannon voted against the amendment.

Ultimately, it may not matter. President Bush has threatened to veto the spending bill if there are substantial changes to the Patriot Act's powers and the amendments may be tossed to keep the bill afloat.

For his part, Cannon says he voted against removing the book provision because any changes to the Patriot Act need to come when Congress takes up the reauthorization later this year. Cannon sits on the House Judiciary Committee, which has held 12 hearings regarding the act.

The congressman says there needs to be several fixes to the bill, including altering how FBI agents get hold of library and bookstore records.

"We will come up with some limitations on that," Cannon said, "without hurting the FBI's ability to identify terrorists who are using public facilities."

Matheson says the search provisions and the library section "really causes alarm."

"I do not believe its necessary," Matheson said.

Because of the Patriot Act, some libraries across the nation have changed their operations so that they do not have to provide info on which books their patrons check out. Salt Lake City's library system and that of Salt Lake County, for example, delete their customers' book history once the book has been returned.

tburr@sltrib.com