The September 11th attack
Congress clears agenda to act on anti-terrorist bills
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers pushed aside other work yesterday to take up the administration's request for new wiretapping and other counterterrorism laws, prompted by Attorney General John Ashcroft's warning that terrorists could still be active in the United States.
"We've cleared our calendar," Senate Judiciary Committee spokeswoman Mimi Devlin said.
House Judiciary Committee spokesman Jeff Lungren added, "We know what a priority this legislation is for the administration, the Congress and the country, and we will act accordingly."
Ashcroft urged Congress to quickly expand the FBI's wiretapping authority, to impose stronger penalties on those who harbor or finance terrorists and to increase punishments on terrorists themselves.
Ashcroft told lawmakers the FBI needs his package passed this week, even though Congress is observing the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. "I'm optimistic that we will be able to act quickly to provide law enforcement with the additional tools that are necessary to fight terrorism," Ashcroft said.
House and Senate leaders had yet to see the specifics of Ashcroft's proposal yesterday. The attorney general said it would be ready in a "day or two," which led to uncertainty over whether committees will hold hearings or just send the package directly to the House and Senate floors for votes.
The Senate already has approved changing wiretapping laws by amending the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill last Thursday to make terrorism a reason to request a wiretap.
Part of Ashcroft's terrorism package includes a request to allow the FBI to seek wiretapping orders for a suspect instead of a telephone.
That would mean law enforcement agents would be able to tap any phone a suspect uses, instead of having to ask for a new wiretapping order whenever the suspect changes telephones. With the introduction of cellular phones, it has become harder for law officers to track conversations of suspects because of the ease of getting new telephone numbers or new telephones, officials said.
Ashcroft also wants wiretapping orders to extend over state lines. That would allow investigators around the country to tap all of a suspect's calls without getting a separate wiretapping warrant in each jurisdiction. "This is a reasonable upgrade," he said.
The attorney general also said he wants Congress to give him expanded electronic surveillance and search authority as well as the ability to identify, seize and forfeit terrorists' assets.
The package would make contributing to terrorism groups a crime under money-laundering statutes, lift the statute of limitations on prosecuting terrorists and increase penalties for harboring terrorists.
The American Civil Liberties Union said Congress should slow down and hold hearings and deliberative debates on Ashcroft's proposed legislation to ensure it does not infringe on civil liberties.
"If we allow our freedoms to be undermined, the terrorists will have won," said Anthony Romero, the ACLU's executive director.
