Senators Agree on Anti-Terror Bill

[nnburk]

OCTOBER 03, 22:18 EDT 

 Senators Agree on Anti-Terror Bill 

 By JESSE J. HOLLAND 
 Associated Press Writer 

 WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats and the Bush administration reached
 agreement Wednesday on a package of new police powers to combat
terrorism. A
 House committee sent its own compromise package to the full House for
approval. 

 Key Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee
 worked with the White House and Justice Department to come up with a
 compromise bill after negotiations fell apart Tuesday over how much
secret grand
 jury evidence could be shared with intelligence agencies. 

 ``These have been complex and difficult negotiations, but after much
hard effort we
 have completed work on this bipartisan agreement,'' said Senate
Judiciary Chairman
 Patrick Leahy, R-Vt. 

 Leahy and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Judiciary Republican,
declined to give
 details of the compromise. But Hatch said the ``agreement takes into
account each
 of our principled beliefs and is based on our views on the proper
balance between
 the role of law enforcement and our civil liberties.'' 

 Senators refused to include an expiration date on the laws, unlike the
House, which
 would have the most of the new laws expire at the beginning of 2004,
said Senate
 aides speaking on the condition of anonymity. Senators, in negotiation
with the White
 House, also threw out the Justice Department's proposal to allow
officials to hold
 immigrants suspected of terrorism indefinitely without filing charges,
aides said. 

 The House bill would reduce the time to one week. 

 The Senate also allows nationwide jurisdiction for electronic
surveillance devices and
 legal expansion of those devices to e-mail and Internet and
authorization for the use
 of ``roving'' wiretaps — in which officials get orders allowing them to
tap whatever
 telephone a person uses — under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act, the aide
 said. 

 The compromise also modifies the Justice Department's request to deport
immigrants
 if they raise or give money to known terrorist organizations or to
organizations they
 should have known committed terrorist acts. Sen. Edward Kennedy,
D-Mass., won
 a change to the law that gives immigrants a chance to prove that they
didn't know
 their solicitations would further terrorist activities, the aides said. 

 Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., said he wanted to have
the final
 bill on the floor of the Senate for debate before the end of next week.
He also said
 that he would try to attach money-laundering legislation that up until
the Sept. 11
 terrorism attacks had been opposed by the administration. 

 President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have been prodding
Congress
 for quick action on measures that would make it easier for authorities
to detain
 terrorism suspects and monitor their communications. 

 Meanwhile, the House prepared to act early next week on its own version
of the
 legislation, which weakens some of the police powers Ashcroft sought
and would
 have the laws expire in January 2004. The House Judiciary Committee
approved its
 compromise version 36-0 late Wednesday and sent it on to the full
House. House
 Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri said he also expected the
House bill
 to come up before next Friday. 

 The bill does strengthen the hand of investigators in several areas,
including their
 ability to conduct electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism cases. It
also stiffens
 penalties for several terrorist offenses, and extends the statute of
limitations on
 terrorism cases. 

 On another front, it gives authorities the ability to hold aliens
suspected of terrorist
 acts for seven days without filing charges, an increase from the
current two days. 

 ``The left is not completely happy with the bill and neither is the
right,'' said House
 Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. ``It certainly doesn't
represent the
 Justice Department's wish list. I think this means we've got it just
about right.'' 

 The committee added several amendments to the bill Wednesday, including
a
 provision to allow people to sue the government if information gathered
with the bill's
 new electronic surveillance powers is leaked to the public. 

 ``I'm trying to increase the negative incentive for this kind of
leaking,'' said Rep.
 Barney Frank, D-Mass. 

 ——— 

 The House bill number is HR 2975. 

 On the Net: 

 U.S. House: http://www.house.gov 

 U.S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov 

 for bill text: http://thomas.loc.gov 


http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_package.html?FRONTID=NATIONAL&PACKAGEID=bush&STORYID=APIS7ETSE500&SLUG=ATTACKS%2dTERROR%2dLAWS



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