Anti-Terrorism Bill Stalls in Senate; Key Democrat Blames White House

The push for anti-terrorism legislation stalled in the Senate on Tuesday amid complaints from Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft that lawmakers are moving too slowly on White House proposals to expand law enforcement’s investigative powers.

“I believe it is time for us to understand that tools can reduce the risk of terrorism. Talk won’t,” Ashcroft said after emerging from a meeting with key senators and White House officials involved in negotiations on the bill.

Ashcroft’s remarks were echoed by top Republicans on Capitol Hill in the first public signs of partisan frustration with the progress of legislation the White House had hoped would clear Congress more than a week ago.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Democrats’ point man in negotiations, blamed the White House, saying Ashcroft balked at terms of an agreement endorsed by his staff over the weekend.

“We want to give them practical tools, things we know will help,” said Leahy, adding that he went into the morning meeting with Ashcroft believing the two sides were close to completing a deal.

Leahy said he asked Vice President Dick Cheney, who made a separate visit to the Capitol on Tuesday, “to go back [to the White House] and find a way to solve this problem” by restoring the original terms of their tentative deal.

The anti-terrorism bill is designed to aid law enforcement in its new war on terrorism with provisions that would expand investigators’ ability to conduct electronic surveillance, detain foreign suspects and seek stiffer penalties in terrorism cases.

The snag in the Senate surfaced one day after the ranking Republican and Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee announced a compromise on the bill that scales back many of the White House proposals.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) endorsed the compromise bill, saying he was “quite impressed” with it.

The measure is scheduled to be considered by the House Judiciary Committee today.

Leahy, an ardent civil liberties advocate, favors scaling back the administration’s proposals even further, mainly by requiring greater judicial oversight of investigators’ use of wiretaps and other tools.

Leahy said Tuesday’s impasse centers on a White House proposal that would lift restrictions on law enforcement’s ability to share with other government agencies information gathered during grand jury investigations.

Both sides agreed that such sharing should be allowed when evidence of terrorist activity is uncovered. But Leahy sought to impose additional terms, including a requirement that investigators file a notice in federal court whenever such information sharing occurs.

Leahy said the two sides had reached agreement on that provision Sunday, but that Ashcroft rejected it during their meeting Tuesday. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

Several Republicans indicated that their disagreements with Leahy go beyond that one provision.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, cited “six major areas that we haven’t resolved,” though he also said they are “readily resolvable.” He did not elaborate on those areas of dispute.

Hatch echoed Ashcroft’s call for swift action, saying he had suggested to Leahy that if the two sides could not reach agreement by Tuesday night, “then let’s call the bill up on Thursday in [committee], and we’ll just battle it out--whoever wins wins.”

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) also signaled growing impatience with the negotiations. “They’ve had long enough to make decisions on some of these issues,” Lott said. “On critical issues, they’re right where they were three weeks ago.”

David Carle, a spokesman for Leahy, said the staffs for Leahy and Ashcroft resumed meeting Tuesday afternoon, and that both sides still hope to reach a compromise by the end of the week.