House, Senate Chiefs Spar on Patriot Act

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON - The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate judiciary committees may end up in a showdown on how best to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act.

The House chairman, Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, is pushing to make the entire law permanent, while the Senate chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, prefers to retain some congressional control by extending only some of the law's expiration dates.

President Bush called on Congress again Monday to make permanent the expiring provisions of the nation's premier anti-terrorism law, days after London was struck by terrorist bombs.

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Sensenbrenner plans to go along with Bush's call on the House side, with his committee on Wednesday working on legislation that would strike all the "sunset" provisions — the predetermined dates when a law or provision expires — from the Patriot Act.

Specter, meanwhile, plans to keep several of the sunsets in the Senate bill when its reauthorization is debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee, setting up a conflict between the two versions that would have to reconciled before the provision's expiration on Dec. 31 if they are unchanged in the House and Senate.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050711/ap_on_go_co/patriot_act_1