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Patriot Act proposal sends debate back to square one

Just a few weeks ago, critics and supporters of the sweeping anti-terrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act had reduced their differences to only a handful of substantive issues, and the two sides were talking openly about finding room for compromise in renewing the law.

But now, a new proposal in the Senate Intelligence Committee -- backed by the Bush administration -- has sent the two sides scurrying back to their war camps. The central question is no longer whether the government's anti-terrorism powers should be scaled back in the face of criticism from civil rights advocates, but whether those powers should be significantly expanded to give the FBI new authority to demand records and monitor mailings without approval from a judge.

The divergent views were on full display on Tuesday as the committee began its debate in earnest over the future of the Patriot Act and 16 provisions in the law that will expire at the end of the year. Today, the committee is to hold a closed-door hearing on a proposal to renew and expand major provisions, but critics are attacking the committee's decision to hold the debate in secret.

The ranking Republican and Democratic leaders on the committee set the tone for Tuesday's hearing at the outset.

"We expect the men and women of the FBI to protect us," said Senator Pat Roberts, a Republican, who leads the committee, "and yet some advocate constraints that would tie their hands unnecessarily."

Minutes later, Senator John Rockefeller IV, the ranking Democrat on the panel, fired back by urging the Senate to explore fully any proposals to expand the FBI's authority, including one provision in the committee proposal that would allow the bureau to demand records in terror investigations through what are known as administrative subpoenas without going before a judge.

"Has the Department of Justice demonstrated to the committee that any investigations have faltered, even for one critical moment, because of the lack of administrative subpoena authority?" Rockefeller asked.

One witness, Valerie Caproni, the FBI general counsel, said that while the new subpoena power would allow investigators to move much more quickly in terror investigations, she could not point to a specific instance in which national security had been harmed because of a delay in getting records through available channels like intelligence and criminal warrants.
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