WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- An anti-terrorism bill the Senate will consider next week does not include a 2-year "sunset" on new surveillance powers that was included in a House version to safeguard civil liberties, according to a summary of the Senate version.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer argued against a 2-year sunset of new surveillance powers.
"It is entirely possible, if not likely, that this war against terrorism is going to last beyond the sunset," Fleischer said. "And it's important that policy-makers have a realistic understanding of what this different type of war will involve and how long it will require giving the law enforcement agencies the tools they need so we can prevent further attacks on the country."
That bipartisan Senate bill would also triple the number of agents patrolling the border with Canada, and establish standards for an automated "fingerprint identification system" for points of entry, according to the summary.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Thursday he would "expedite" the bill and move it directly to the Senate floor, skipping deliberations in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"We reached a tentative agreement on anti-terrorism late last (Wednesday) night," Daschle said. "It would be my expectation that we would expedite consideration of that bill next week."
The Senate bill drafted by committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and ranking member Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, contains new authority to help the government spy on and detain suspected terrorists, similar to its counterpart passed by the House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday night by a 36-0 vote.
The House version lets the government use expedited procedures to tap phones and trace e-mail correspondence, including the power to attach a phone tap order to an individual as opposed to a device, and avoid applying for new orders in separate jurisdictions across the country as a suspect and investigation move. It also allows the government to use rules -- originally designed to prevent espionage -- to quickly get approval from a special panel to spy on suspected terrorists.
But the bill that passed the House Judiciary Committee also contains a sunset provision -- it ends all of that new surveillance power in 2003 unless Congress decides to extend it. Lawmakers in the House worried about handing government investigators so much unchecked power and thought it might be prudent to take another look in two years.
The Senate version would make similar surveillance powers permanent.
ACLU lawyers are still studying the Senate bill, but said Thursday that despite the precautions included in the House version, it would still degrade civil liberties.
"Under this legislation, the CIA will gain access to all kinds of information on American citizens that they are now forbidden -- because of long and hard experience -- from receiving," ACLU Washington National Office Director Laura Murphy said of the House bill. "And we won't know what they do with it or how long they keep it because it will all be secret."
Both the Senate and House bills also allow the government to use immigration law to detain suspects for seven days before filing charges -- despite Attorney General John Ashcroft's original request to hold those suspects indefinitely.
The Senate bill, however, does not require the government to review a suspect's case every six months after that time -- the House bill does. Critics said without that review, a suspect could conceivably be detained indefinitely if deportation efforts fail because the home country refused to accept the suspect back.
The ACLU said in a statement Thursday that the 6-month review provisions in the House bill "ameliorate the worst of the administrations proposals by requiring the Attorney General to periodically determine whether a non-citizen continues to pose a danger."
Hatch said late Wednesday the bill in the Senate was designed to preserve civil liberties, but still crack down on terrorism.
"I want to compliment the chairman for his efforts and am pleased to report that our agreement takes into account each of our principled beliefs and is based on our views on the proper balance between the rule of law and our civil liberties," Hatch said.
