WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans who had been blocking a long-term extension of the Patriot Act announced Thursday that an agreement reached with the White House could allow reauthorization of the anti-terrorism law.
At an afternoon news conference, Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) said a bipartisan group of lawmakers had worked out changes in three areas where the legislators thought "we could do better to protect civil liberties while providing law enforcement the tools it needs."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan hailed the agreement, saying that the administration was "pleased that this important legislation is moving forward."
Though some Democrats expressed support for the changes, others were critical, raising the prospect that a two-month filibuster of the act could continue.
"The few minor changes that the White House agreed to do not address the major problems with the Patriot Act that a bipartisan coalition has been trying to fix for the past several years," said Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis). "I will continue to strongly oppose and use every option at my disposal to stop any reauthorization of the Patriot Act that does not protect the rights and freedoms of law-abiding Americans."
Enacted shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Patriot Act broke down barriers between intelligence agencies and law enforcement, giving each new powers to collect information. Lawmakers and civil liberties groups objected to provisions that included secret wiretaps and searches, saying they allowed the government to intrude too easily and too far into citizens' lives.
When the Patriot Act expired at the end of 2005, Congress resorted to passing short-term extensions while negotiations over its reauthorization took place.
Sununu made his announcement accompanied by Sens. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). Although the lawmakers acknowledged that they did not get everything they wanted, they said the compromise was an improvement over the version that emerged after House and Senate negotiators met in conference in November.
Those negotiations produced legislation that would have made permanent 14 of the Patriot Act's 16 provisions, prompting opponents to charge that the conference bill failed "to protect innocent people from unnecessary and intrusive government surveillance" and to fight against the act's reauthorization.
