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President chastises Congress, renews push for Patriot Act

WASHINGTON - As the clock runs on Congress' short-term extension of the Patriot Act, President Bush met with federal prosecutors Tuesday and said the domestic antiterror law is vital to keeping Americans safe.

Many key provisions of the law were to expire Dec. 31. Amid a debate over whether the act sufficiently protects civil liberties, most Senate Democrats and a few Republicans united against legislation that would have renewed several provisions permanently while extending others for four years.

In a move the White House opposed but later accepted, Congress approved a one-month extension of the law in its current form to allow the debate to continue. The new measure expires Feb. 3.

Bush, his voice rising, said lawmakers must act on a permanent renewal of the law that expanded the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and financiers. Noting the Patriot Act was overwhelmingly approved not long after the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, he said political considerations now were getting in the way.

"When it came time to renew the act, for partisan reasons, in my mind, people have not stepped up and have agreed that it's still necessary to protect the country," said the president, sitting with federal officials and 19 U.S. attorneys from around the country.

"The enemy has not gone away. They're still there. And I expect Congress to understand that we're still at war, and they have got to give us the tools necessary to win this war," he said.

Later, outside the West Wing, prosecutors cited several cases in which the Patriot Act had played a crucial role, from staging an undercover sting on California weapons dealers attempting to sell Stinger missiles to securing convictions of major terrorist financiers in New York.

"We use it each and every day to protect our country against terrorists and criminals," said Ken Wainstein, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

"We believe this provides adequate safeguards in every respect," said Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said: "Contrary to the president's misleading comments, nobody wants to see the Patriot Act expire. We want common-sense changes to the act that would give the government the power to combat terrorism while protecting the rights and freedoms of law-abiding citizens."

Among the provisions the renewal would make permanent are those that allow roving wiretaps so investigators can listen in on any telephone and tap any computer they think a terrorist might use.

WASHINGTON - More of a $765-million antiterrorism program will go to cities at greater risk, the Homeland Security Department said Tuesday, cheering those who say too much has been sent to communities unlikely to face major threats.

The announcement created potential winners and losers among dozens of metropolitan areas competing for funds from the urban area security initiative, which is being cut from the $855-million Congress provided last year.

"I think that's exactly what we have been screaming for all along," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New York received $207-million from the program last year, by far the most any community received.

Homeland Security officials said they will not announce how much each qualifying metropolitan area will receive until June, after a competition that will include agency scrutiny of their plans for using the money.

That means there could be months of lobbying by city officials and their representatives in Congress before any final decisions are made.

[Last modified January 4, 2006, 01:08:07]