On Capitol Hill, The House of Representatives renewed the USA Patriot Act on Thursday, voting mostly along party lines to make permanent the government’s unprecedented powers. Sixteen provisions of the 2001 law, pushed through in the aftermath of September 11, are due to expire at the end of this year unless renewed by Congress. President Bush has repeatedly called on lawmakers to make the entire law permanent. Republicans repeatedly argued throughout the 11-hour debate that the latest explosions in London showed how urgent and important it was to renew the law. Republicans also added a new provision to apply the federal death penalty for so-called “terrorist offenses” that resulted in death and another establishing a new crime of narco-terrorism to punish people using drug profits to aid terrorism. These offenders will now face 20-year minimum prison sentences. The Senate judiciary committee voted unanimously to recommend its own version of the act on Thursday, which included only four-year renewals of these two clauses. The full Senate is expected to take its bill up in the fall.