"I think at the end of the day well be able to pass a bill very much intact," Jeff Lungren, a spokesman for Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said Wednesday.
Sensenbrenner and Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat John Conyers, D-Mich., earlier this week introduced a compromise anti-terrorism package that gives Attorney General John Ashcroft much of what he asked for in his own anti-terrorism proposal, but establishes a "sunset" date for some of the more controversial provisions in that legislation.
The compromise bill is called the "Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act." The electronic surveillance provisions in the bill would sunset in December 2003.
Although Conyers was one of the most vocal critics of the original Justice Department proposal, his compromise bill has met with a chilly reception from the civil liberties community.
"This legislation still does not meet the basic test of maximizing our security with minimizing the impact on our civil liberties," said Laura W. Murphy, the director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Washington National Office, in a prepared statement Monday.
Still, Lungren predicted that nearly all of the Republicans as well as many of the Democrats on the committee would vote to pass the legislation Wednesday.
ACLU legislative counsel Timothy Edgar conceded that the legislation probably has enough votes to make it out of the committee. The wild card will be what amendments are tacked onto the legislation during Wednesdays markup session, Edgar said.
"The bill will be passed out of committee and we are hopeful that some of these amendments that fix some of the problems remaining in the bill will be passed as well," Edgar said.
Among other things, civil liberties advocates argue the legislation makes it too easy for law enforcers to obtain wiretaps because it allows investigators to apply for surveillance orders under foreign intelligence-gathering rules, rather than stricter domestic law enforcement rules, even when a suspect is located within the United States.
"There are significant and very serious problems that remain with the House bill," Edgar said. Regardless of what amendments are added today, Edgar said it is doubtful that the final bill will be one that the ACLU is willing to support.
On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who has long fought against efforts by federal law enforcers to broaden their surveillance powers, applauded the sunset provision in the Judiciary Committee compromise.
"Im very pleased and want to continue to encourage them to hold the two-year sunset because we should have time to review that," Armey told reporters.
But Armey said he is still discussing some provisions of the legislation with Judiciary Committee leaders.
David McGuire, Newsbytes
