House seeks changes to anti-terror Bill

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 13. The House of Representatives has given its approval to the Senate's Anti-Terrorism Bill but failed to give full approval to the changes sought by the other chamber and the White House. The administration wants sweeping powers to tackle terrorism - power to spy on, detain and punish suspects.

The House of Representatives is willing to back the Senate but with changes. For instance, the House insists on placing a five- year deadline on intrusive measures like roving wiretaps. It has rejected a Senate provision on money laundering, instead coming up with its own version.

The House passed the Bill by a margin of 337 to 79 and the vote on Thursday in the Senate was by a margin of 96 to 1. The House has sent its version to the Senate for consideration and Senate and White House negotiators will look into the same. But several key Senators like the Democratic Majority leader, Mr. Tom Daschle, are insistent on the money laundering provision. Despite the differences which the administration hopes will be sorted out by early next week, the White House expressed satisfaction that the legislation came through. The FBI's power to wiretap has been substantially increased and there are stronger penalties for those harbouring terrorists. But the House version has put the onus on the Government to prove that a suspect is a terrorist.

``The House and the Senate bills are virtually identical. I urge the Congress to quickly get the Bill to my desk. We must strengthen the hand of law enforcement to help safeguard America and prevent future attacks - and we must do it now,'' the President, Mr. George W Bush said.

Though the anti-terrorism legislation has sailed through Capitol Hill, there are fears that it may be misused. A Democratic lawmaker said, ``This could be the Gulf of Tonkin resolution for civil liberties, instead of a measure meant to fight terrorism.'' Former President Lyndon Johnson used a reported firing on American ships to get a sweeping resolution passed in 1964 and used it every time to expand the war in Vietnam.

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Section  : International
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