7.12.2005
Parties Failing in Joint Effort to Review Patriot Act (NYTimes.com)
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: July 12, 2005
WASHINGTON, July 11 - Efforts in Congress to reach a bipartisan compromise over the future of the USA Patriot Act appear to have splintered, with Republican leaders on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees moving ahead on their own with proposals to extend the government's counterterrorism powers under the hotly debated law.
Some Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they thought they had reached a tentative compromise in recent weeks on a joint bill that would have extended the law while imposing tougher restrictions on the government's ability to use some surveillance powers against terror suspects.
While negotiations to broker a bipartisan deal continued late Monday, Democratic officials said the compromise appeared to have stalled because of disagreement over whether to impose new restrictions on the government's ability to demand library records and other powers.
Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and other Republicans on the panel are planning to introduce a proposal as early as Tuesday. No Democrats have signed on in support of the proposal, which would make permanent provisions of the law that are set to expire at the end of the year.
On the House side, meanwhile, Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Wisconsin Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee, introduced a similar proposal on Monday.
Frictions on the House Judiciary Committee over the act spilled into public view a month ago at a hearing on the law that degenerated into chaos, as Mr. Sensenbrenner gaveled the session to an end prematurely and stormed out after Democrats made accusations about the administration's policies on torture.
House Democratic officials said Monday that while they were actively involved in negotiations on the original passage of the Patriot Act in October 2001, they felt shut out now.
"There's an incredible contrast this time around," said a senior Democratic aide on the House Judiciary Committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of political tensions surrounding the issue.
(More ... Parties Failing in Joint Effort to Review Patriot Act - New York Times) ¶ 19:57
Published: July 12, 2005
WASHINGTON, July 11 - Efforts in Congress to reach a bipartisan compromise over the future of the USA Patriot Act appear to have splintered, with Republican leaders on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees moving ahead on their own with proposals to extend the government's counterterrorism powers under the hotly debated law.
Some Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they thought they had reached a tentative compromise in recent weeks on a joint bill that would have extended the law while imposing tougher restrictions on the government's ability to use some surveillance powers against terror suspects.
While negotiations to broker a bipartisan deal continued late Monday, Democratic officials said the compromise appeared to have stalled because of disagreement over whether to impose new restrictions on the government's ability to demand library records and other powers.
Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and other Republicans on the panel are planning to introduce a proposal as early as Tuesday. No Democrats have signed on in support of the proposal, which would make permanent provisions of the law that are set to expire at the end of the year.
On the House side, meanwhile, Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Wisconsin Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee, introduced a similar proposal on Monday.
Frictions on the House Judiciary Committee over the act spilled into public view a month ago at a hearing on the law that degenerated into chaos, as Mr. Sensenbrenner gaveled the session to an end prematurely and stormed out after Democrats made accusations about the administration's policies on torture.
House Democratic officials said Monday that while they were actively involved in negotiations on the original passage of the Patriot Act in October 2001, they felt shut out now.
"There's an incredible contrast this time around," said a senior Democratic aide on the House Judiciary Committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of political tensions surrounding the issue.
(More ... Parties Failing in Joint Effort to Review Patriot Act - New York Times) ¶ 19:57
