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Key House Republican Balks at Patriot Act

Posted on: Thursday, 22 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By LAURIE KELLMAN

WASHINGTON - House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner threatened Thursday to block passage of six-month extension of the Patriot Act, Republicans officials said, leaving open the possibility that the anti-terror legislation enacted after the attacks of 2001 might expire at year's end.

A spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican declined comment.

Sensenbrenner's reticence sent the White House and congressional GOP leaders scrambling to prevent the expiration of the existing law, with most lawmakers already home for the holidays. One possibility included approval of a shorter extension, coupled with a decision to summon lawmakers back to the Capitol early next year.

"Congressman Sensenbrenner needs to do what's right for Americans and agree to let the bipartisan Senate bill pass promptly," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The Senate approved a six-month extension Wednesday night. Republican leaders reversed course to do so, after insisting for days they would accept nothing less than enactment of permanent legislation that incorporated changes in the powers granted law enforcement to pursue suspected terrorists.

President Bush has long demanded Congress send him permanent legislation, but he sidestepped the issue of an extension when he spoke with reporters during the day.

"It appears to me that the Congress understands we've got to keep the Patriot Act in place, that we're still under threat," he said before boarding a helicopter headed to Camp David, Md., for a long holiday weekend with his family.

Under House rules, Sensenbrenner has the power to block enactment of the six-month law. Officials who described his position did so on condition of anonymity, citing a need to keep the matter confidence.

That left the White House and GOP leaders with a dwindling set of options to prevent the expiration of the law.

Among them was passage of a short-term extension, possibly one month, a step that would require lawmakers to reconvene earlier than they anticipate in January.

Bush also has the authority to call Congress back into session to prevent the expiration of the existing law before Dec. 31. Several Republican officials said earlier in the week he had been prepared to do so if Congress adjourned without acting on the renewal.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who had led the Democratic-led fililbuster against permanently renewing most of the law's expiring provisions, said the six-month extension "will allow more time to finally agree on a bill that protects our rights and freedoms while preserving important tools for fighting terrorism."

Most of the Patriot Act - which expanded the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and financiers - was made permanent when Congress overwhelmingly passed it after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.

Making permanent the rest of the Patriot Act powers, like the roving wiretaps which allow investigators to listen in on any telephone and tap any computer they think a target might use, has been a priority of the administration and Republican lawmakers.

Some civil liberties safeguards had been inserted into legislation for renewing that law but Senate Democrats and a small group of GOP senators blocked it anyway, arguing that more safeguards were needed.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he had no choice but to accept a six-month extension in the face of a successful filibuster and the Patriot Act's Dec. 31 expiration date. "I'm not going to let the Patriot Act die," Frist said.

Bush indicated that he would sign the extension. "The work of Congress on the Patriot Act is not finished," Bush said. "The act will expire next summer, but the terrorist threat to America will not expire on that schedule. I look forward to continuing to work with Congress to reauthorize the Patriot Act."

Frist said he had not consulted with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., yet on the six-month extension. Senior Republicans there have opposed any temporary extension of the current law, insisting that most of the expiring provisions should be renewed permanently, but it would be difficult for the House to reject a plan agreed to by the Senate and President Bush.

The six-month "extension ensures that the tools provided to law enforcement in terrorist investigations in the Patriot Act remain in effect while Congress works out the few differences that remain," said Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., one of a small group of Republicans who crossed party lines to block the Patriot Act legislation.

Republicans who had pushed for legislation that would make most of the expiring provisions permanent said the agreement only postpones the ongoing arguments over the Patriot Act for six months. "We'll be right back where we are right now," said a clearly frustrated Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

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Special Correspondent David Espo contributed to this report.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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