US lawmakers on three separate congressional committees moved on Wednesday to impose restrictions on some of the more controversial elements of the law known as the USA Patriot Act, suggesting continued resistance in Congress to the idea of giving the government unchecked authority to fight terrorism.
Senator Arlen Specter, who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in introducing proposed restrictions that there must be "a very careful balance" between fighting terrorism and protecting civil liberties.
In a day of wide-ranging debate over the future of the Patriot Act, Specter, , a Republican, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, introduced a bill that would require greater judicial oversight for certain surveillance activities and put a four-year "sunset" on two sections of the law, including a provision that allows the government to demand library and medical records in intelligence investigations.
While their bill would permanently extend 14 provisions of the Patriot Act that are set to expire at the end of this year, it would require congressional renewal in 2009 for the library provision and for a separate section related to the use of roving wiretaps.
The Justice Department, which has backed a separate plan by the Senate Intelligence Committee giving the FBI broader anti-terrorism powers, said it was reviewing Specter's proposal.
But a senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of sensitive political negotiations, said the department was troubled by several elements of the proposal, including provisions to raise the standard needed to obtain approval for certain types of surveillance and a public accounting of how often such powers are used.
A Republican Senate aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said Justice Department officials had already expressed their concerns privately and were "freaked out" by the prospect of greater restrictions on records.
In the House, the intelligence committee, in approving its renewal of the act, passed a measure on Wednesday that, in contrast to the White House position, would place a five-year limit on a provision of the law that enables investigators to eavesdrop on suspected "lone wolf" terrorists.
And in the House Judiciary Committee, lawmakers were moving through a series of amendments to that panel's version of the law in an effort to bring legislation before the full House next week.
The committee also bucked the White House and put in similar 10-year sunset requirements on provisions that make it easier to obtain library records and institute roving wiretaps.
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