Tucson, Arizona  Friday, 26 October 2001
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/11026NANTITERROR-BILL.html
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Senate passed sweeping anti-terrorism legislation Thursday. The measure it sent President Bush would expand the government's ability to conduct electronic surveillance, detain immigrants without charges and penetrate money-laundering banks.

The measure also permits officials to share grand jury information to thwart terrorism and relaxes the conditions under which judges can authorize intelligence wiretaps.


Only Russ Feingold voted against the bill.

The president's deputy press secretary, Claire Buchan, said: "The president is pleased that the Congress has acted quickly to provide additional tools in fighting the war on terrorism, and he looks forward to signing the bill into law tomorrow."

Attorney General John Ashcroft said that within hours of Bush's signature he would distribute new directives to all federal prosecutors and FBI agents telling them how to use the law. One step to be taken right away, senior law enforcement officials said, is to seek subpoenas to obtain information on computers used by any terror suspects.

The Senate vote was 98-1, after a 356-66 vote in the House on Wednesday. Only Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., voted against the bill. He argued that it would allow unconstitutional searches and punish individuals for vague associations with possible terrorists.

The bill provides most of the additional powers sought by Ashcroft shortly after the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

But it added the money-laundering measures after a push by Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, D-Md., who is chairman of the Banking Committee. And the bill curtailed some of the tools Ashcroft sought, reflecting concerns in both parties and houses that the administration proposal went too far.

For example, it denied the administration the power to detain indefinitely and without charges immigrants suspected of involvement in terrorist activity. The bill does expand the limit to seven days of detention, from two days, though under some circumstances that could be extended by six months.

The bill denied the administration the power to use foreign wiretaps that would be illegal in the United States. It also provides that authority for expanded surveillance of computers and telephones will expire after four years. The administration wanted the authority to be permanent.

Feingold, while praising his colleagues for denying Ashcroft all the powers he sought, complained of "relentless" pressure to move quickly, "without deliberation or debate."

He attacked the bill for enabling the government to obtain the business or medical records of anyone "who might have sat on an airplane" with a suspected terrorist. He also objected to the bill's liberal approval of intelligence wiretaps. Such wiretaps are often issued in secrecy and under much looser standards than those required for wiretaps in criminal cases.

"Congress will fulfill its duty only when it protects both the American people and the freedoms at the foundation of American society," Feingold said.

But he was the lone dissenter. One senator, Mary Landrieu, D-La., did not vote.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., who heads the Judiciary Committee, said Ashcroft had asked that the legislation be passed in two days. Instead, Leahy said: "We took the time to look at it, and we took the time to read it. And we took time to remove those parts that were unconstitutional and those parts that would have actually hurt the rights of all Americans."

Leahy praised the addition of provisions to cope with money-laundering, saying he had learned as a state prosecutor of the need to "follow the money."



All content copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 AzStarNet, Arizona Daily Star and its wire services and suppliers and may not be republished without permission. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the expressed written consent of Arizona Daily Star or AzStarNet is prohibited.

CALENDAR | Front Page | Tucson | Opinion | Business | Sports | Accent | Entertainment
CALENDAR | WEATHER | AZ/WEST | NATIONAL | WASHINGTON | WORLD | E THE PEOPLE | AP WIRE | NEWSLINKS