New York Times
November 11, 2005
by Eric Lichtblau

Lawmakers from the House and the Senate met for the first time Thursday to iron out differences over the sweeping antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act. Congress may give final approval as early as next week to a bill that would probably put new restrictions on the government's investigative powers.

While the House and Senate versions of the legislation would both extend the central provisions of the law, the Senate version is seen as more restrictive and has broader support in Congress. It would extend several crucial provisions for only four years, instead of the 10 prescribed in the House version, and would impose new restrictions and greater judicial oversight in some cases on the government's ability to demand records and conduct antiterrorism operations.

Congressional leaders said they were confident that they could overcome their differences as the deadline approached for 16 provisions of the law that are due to expire at the end of the year. With members eager to extend the law before the Thanksgiving break, they said they expected a final agreement as early as next week.

Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Wisconsin Republican who leads the House Judiciary Committee, would not commit to a timeline but said after the hearing that approving a bill was a critical priority in fighting terrorism.

"I'd like to see it done as soon as possible," Mr. Sensenbrenner said. "We all know we're not leaving town until this thing is done" by the end of the year.

Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, said at the hearing that the restrictions imposed under the Senate version represented "the opportunity to fix the Patriot Act."

But some Republicans warned that restrictions could tie the government's hands in identifying and pursuing terror suspects, and Senator Pat Roberts, the Kansas Republican who leads the Intelligence Committee, restated his hope for strengthening the powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to issue administrative subpoenas in demanding records in terror investigations.

That idea has the strong support of the Bush administration, and it would give the F.B.I. even broader power than it has now in issuing what are called national security letters, which have become a frequent tool of the bureau since the Sept. 11 attacks.