4.06.2005
Gonzales, Mueller Pitch Patriot Act Renewal (WashingtonPost.com)
Top Law Enforcement Officials Say Law Needs Only Minor Revisions
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 5, 2005; 3:42 PM
The nation's two top law enforcement officials urged Congress today to renew nearly every facet of the sweeping USA Patriot Act antiterrorism legislation, arguing that the controversial law needs only minor tweaking to address the concerns of critics on both sides of the political aisle.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the efforts of the FBI and federal prosecutors to track and stop al Qaeda operatives would be severely hampered if more than a dozen provisions in the law are not renewed by Congress later this year.
"Thanks in part to the act, we have dismantled terrorist cells, disrupted terrorist plots and captured terrorists before they could strike," Gonzales told the committee. He said that "al Qaeda and other terrorist groups still pose a grave threat to the security of the American people, and now is not the time to relinquish some of our most effective tools in this fight."
In a departure from the hard-line position of his predecessor, John D. Ashcroft, Gonzales said he was "open to suggestions" about changes to the law, and he even endorsed small modifications to one provision governing business records that has been a focus of criticism.
Yet he and Mueller made clear that they believe most of the law should be made permanent.
(More ... Gonzales, Mueller Pitch Patriot Act Renewal (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:22
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 5, 2005; 3:42 PM
The nation's two top law enforcement officials urged Congress today to renew nearly every facet of the sweeping USA Patriot Act antiterrorism legislation, arguing that the controversial law needs only minor tweaking to address the concerns of critics on both sides of the political aisle.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the efforts of the FBI and federal prosecutors to track and stop al Qaeda operatives would be severely hampered if more than a dozen provisions in the law are not renewed by Congress later this year.
"Thanks in part to the act, we have dismantled terrorist cells, disrupted terrorist plots and captured terrorists before they could strike," Gonzales told the committee. He said that "al Qaeda and other terrorist groups still pose a grave threat to the security of the American people, and now is not the time to relinquish some of our most effective tools in this fight."
In a departure from the hard-line position of his predecessor, John D. Ashcroft, Gonzales said he was "open to suggestions" about changes to the law, and he even endorsed small modifications to one provision governing business records that has been a focus of criticism.
Yet he and Mueller made clear that they believe most of the law should be made permanent.
(More ... Gonzales, Mueller Pitch Patriot Act Renewal (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:22
