*EPF409 10/25/01
Senate Joins House in Approving Anti-Terrorism Bill
(Action clears way for Bush to sign it into law swiftly) (590)
By Ralph Dannheisser
Washington File Congressional Correspondent

Washington - The U.S. Senate has given overwhelming approval to anti-terrorism legislation that will give law enforcement agencies broad new powers to track down and jail suspected terrorists.

Senate passage by a 98-1 vote October 25, just a day after the House of Representatives approved the measure by a large margin, clears the way for President Bush to sign it into law, probably as soon as October 26.

The president had asked Congress to get the legislation to him by that date.

When the two chambers reconciled differences in their earlier versions of the bill October 24, Bush issued a statement in which he said he was "pleased Congress has reached an agreement on counterterrorism legislation that will give our law enforcement officials the tools and resources necessary to disrupt, weaken, and defeat terrorists.

"I look forward to signing this strong bipartisan plan into law so that we can combat terrorism and prevent future attacks," the president said.

The legislation empowers law enforcement authorities to conduct secret searches of the homes of terrorism suspects, tap any phones they might use, and monitor their use of the Internet. It also authorizes unprecedented sharing of information between criminal investigators and intelligence agencies, and it strengthens money-laundering laws in an effort to keep financing from reaching terrorist groups.

In addition, it allows the government to hold foreigners suspected of terrorism in custody for up to seven days before charging them with a crime, launching deportation proceedings, or releasing them.

Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union - and a sizeable minority of members of the House - have voiced concerns that surveillance and other provisions in the bill pose a potential threat to the liberties of U.S. citizens. They have expressed fears that the sweeping new powers granted could be employed far more broadly than simply against suspected terrorists.

Acknowledging those concerns, Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (Democrat, South Dakota) said he believes that the bill as passed provides "the appropriate balance between protecting civil liberties, privacy and ensuring that law enforcement has the tools it needs to do the job it must."

But Senator Russell Feingold (Democrat, Wisconsin), who cast the only dissenting vote in the Senate, declared that the bill "does not strike the right balance between empowering law enforcement and protecting civil liberties."

The bill, as finally passed, provides for wiretapping and electronic surveillance provisions to "sunset" - congressional jargon for expire - at the end of 2005. Congressional reauthorization would be required at that time to keep them in force. That represented a compromise with the Bush administration, which had initially sought to have the new police powers granted on a permanent basis.

The measure received final passage just over six weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks that were its genesis - a remarkably swift timetable, by congressional standards, for such sweeping legislation. Expedited procedures used included a ban on floor amendments.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said October 25 that the Justice Department will direct all federal prosecutors and FBI agents to begin using their new powers just as soon as Bush signs the measure into law. "A new era in America's fight against terrorism is about to begin," he said in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, meeting in Washington.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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