Broad spying tools would become permanent

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/09/MN257910.DTL

GOP wants to keep anti-terror powers
Broad spying tools would become permanent

New York Times   Wednesday, April 9, 2003

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Washington -- Congressional Republicans, working with the Bush
administration, are maneuvering to make permanent the sweeping
anti-terrorism powers granted to federal law enforcement agents after the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, officials said Tuesday.

The move is likely to touch off strong objections from many Democrats and
even some Republicans in Congress who believe that the Patriot Act, as the
legislation that grew out of the attacks is known, has already given the
government too much power to spy on Americans.

The landmark legislation expanded the government's power to use
eavesdropping, surveillance, access to financial and computer records and
other tools to track terrorist suspects. When it passed in October 2001,
moderates and civil libertarians in Congress agreed to support it only by
making many critical provisions temporary. Those provisions will expire,
or "sunset," at the end of 2005 unless Congress reauthorizes them.

But Republicans in the Senate in recent days have discussed a proposal,
authored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that would repeal the so-called
sunset provisions and make the expanded powers permanent, officials said.
Republicans may seek to move on the proposal this week by trying to attach
it to another anti-terrorism bill that would make it easier for the
government to use secret surveillance warrants against "lone wolf"
terrorism suspects.

Many Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated by what they see as a
lack of information from the Justice Department on how its agents are
using their newfound powers. The Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle of
South Dakota, said Tuesday that without extensive review, he "would be
very strongly opposed to any repeal" of the 2005 time limit. He predicted
that Republicans did not have the votes to repeal the limits.

A senior Justice Department official on Tuesday said the Patriot Act has
allowed the FBI to move faster and more flexibly to disrupt terrorists
before they strike. "We don't want that to expire on us," the official
said.

With the act's provisions not set to expire for more than 2 1/2 years,
officials expected that the debate over its future would be many months
away.

But political jockeying over separate, bipartisan legislation sponsored by
Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., appears to have given
Hatch the chance to move on the issue much earlier than expected.

The Kyl-Schumer measure would eliminate the need for federal agents
seeking secret surveillance warrants to show that a suspect is affiliated
with a foreign power or agent, such as a terrorist group. Advocates say
the measure would make it easier for agents to go after "lone wolf"
terrorists who are not connected to a foreign group.

The proposal was approved unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But Republicans were upset because several Democrats said that when the
measure reaches the Senate floor for a full vote, perhaps this week or
later in the month, they plan to offer amendments that would impose
tougher restrictions on the use of secret warrants.