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what, exactly, is in the new anti-terrorism bill now making its
way through the Senate? "It's 132 pages, I just got it this
morning, and I don't know," says one harried GOP aide. And
he still doesn't; as this is written, Republicans and Democrats
on the Senate Judiciary Committee are meeting to go through the
bill's language line-by-line, hoping to have a finished product
by Friday morning. Then, we'll at least know what it says.
Still, from what has already been agreed upon, it appears the White
House has won a significant victory in its drive to expand law enforcement
authority — especially the power to use wiretaps and other
surveillance methods — in the fight against terrorism. And
Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the judiciary panel, has
been forced to backtrack on some key points.
According to Republican sources, the administration's most important
victory is the enhanced power to eavesdrop on the telephone conversations
of those under government surveillance. Under current law, when
the Justice Department asks for permission to tap a phone under
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, it has to show that "the
purpose of the surveillance is to obtain foreign intelligence information."
In most cases, that is less rigorous standard to meet than the standard
required for wiretaps in a criminal investigation. But the Justice
Department wanted it to be less rigorous still, and under the new
bill, the government will simply have to show that "a significant
purpose of the surveillance is to obtain foreign intelligence information."
That two-word change will, according to the experts, substantially
expand the government's power to tap phones.
In addition, the administration appears to have prevailed on the
use of so-called "roving" wiretaps. Those are taps that
apply to a specific person, and not to a specific telephone. In
other words, if you are a potential suspect and use a variety of
cell phones in addition to hard-line phones in a number of different
locations, the Justice Department wants to be able to follow you
around and tap into each phone you use, without having to go through
the logistically-difficult process of applying for a warrant for
each one. Under the new bill, the government will have that power.
Finally, it appears that Bush has also won a victory on the question
of the sharing of secret grand jury evidence and testimony between
law enforcement officials and intelligence officers. Right now,
only prosecutors have access to grand jury information covered by
Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Under the
new law, they will be able to share that previously restricted information
with intelligence officials.
If the final version of the Senate bill is finished tomorrow, it
is possible that it could go to the full Senate for a vote on Tuesday
— and then on to conference with a similar bill from the House.
In the meantime, senators on the Judiciary Committee — most
of whom were kept out of the top-level negotiations between Leahy,
ranking minority member Orrin Hatch, and the White House —
will take the bill home this weekend to learn what they're being
asked to approve.
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