Mukasey: Approve nominees; pass FISA

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey asked the Senate Judiciary Committee for quick action on Justice Department nominees and an intelligence-gathering bill.

Among the positions filled temporarily are deputy and associate attorneys general, Mukasey said Wednesday in remarks prepared for delivery to the Senate panel.

"(The) continued wait for Senate-confirmed officials creates a tentative atmosphere that is not in the interest of the department or the country," Mukasey said.

He also pressed for quick passage of the intelligence-gathering Protect America Act, due to expire Friday.

In urging approval of the temporary update of the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Mukasey said the legislation must enable "intelligence professionals to surveil targets overseas without individual court orders, and it must provide retroactive liability protection for companies who are believed to have helped our country in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."

Senate Democrats are divided about the liability issue. A Senate Judiciary Committee provision that didn't include the liability provision was turned aside recently by the full Senate.