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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rich4eagle who wrote (289457)	8/22/2002 6:02:29 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

We haven't heard much from Ashcroft lately. Perhaps someone should check under those drapes covering those statues. Perhaps, though, he's dodging this subpoena: Sensenbrenner wants answers on act He threatens to subpoena Ashcroft to get details on antiterror measure By STEVE SCHULTZE of the Journal Sentinel staff Last Updated: Aug. 19, 2002 U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner said Monday he'll play hardball with Attorney General John Ashcroft over a congressional demand for detailed information about the Patriot Act, the post-Sept. 11 law giving the government broad powers to investigate terrorism. Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said he would "start blowing a fuse" unless Ashcroft's Justice Department gives answers by Labor Day week to 50 written questions about the act raised by the House Judiciary Committee in June. If the committee still doesn't have the answers by then, Sensenbrenner said, he may take the unusual step of issuing a subpoena to Ashcroft to force him to testify before the Judiciary Committee, which Sensenbrenner heads. He noted that the department already has missed two deadlines issued earlier by Congress for answering the questions. "I've never signed a subpoena in my five and a half years as chairman. I guess there's a first time for everything," Sensenbrenner said during a session with Journal Sentinel reporters and editors. The 50 questions about the Patriot Act from both Republican and Democratic committee members include how many times the Justice Department has obtained wiretaps and other devices that can track a suspect's phone calls and e-mails. Another question asks what protections are in place to ensure that expanded seizure powers don't violate constitutional freedoms. "I expect to have that done because it is legitimate oversight" by Congress, Sensenbrenner said. The act, passed overwhelmingly by Congress and signed into law by President Bush on Oct. 26, expands the definition of terrorism, increases penalties for terrorist activities and eases government restrictions on investigation and detention of foreigners suspected of terrorism. The issue has roused the passions of civil libertarians and lawmakers of both parties, although the general public and his own constituents haven't expressed much interest, Sensenbrenner said. The subpoena threat isn't the only weapon Sensenbrenner is wielding. Sensenbrenner said he told Ashcroft during a summer social event: "Look, there's a sunset in the Patriot Act. If you want to play 'I've got a secret,' good luck getting the Patriot Act extended. Because if you've got a bipartisan anger in the Congress, the sunset will come and go and the Patriot Act disappears." The act automatically expires in late 2005 unless Congress votes to extend it. A Justice Department spokesman could not be reached for comment Monday. Sensenbrenner's tiff with Ashcroft includes an exchange in May in which Sensenbrenner canceled a scheduled Judiciary Committee appearance by Ashcroft when the attorney general failed to follow committee protocol by properly submitting written copies of his planned testimony two days in advance. Ashcroft did send an e-mail late the night before his scheduled Judiciary Committee appearance, but the message said it wasn't to be shared with committee members, Sensenbrenner said. "Apparently this is the first time ever that a committee chairman has canceled a hearing with a cabinet officer," Sensenbrenner said. On a related matter, he said he doesn't favor blanket release of the names of the foreign detainees arrested since the act went into effect. A judge should make the decision on a case-by-case basis with the burden on the government to prove secrecy was necessary, Sensenbrenner said. The issue is pending before a federal appeals court. He said Congress should clarify under what circumstances the president may detain suspected foreign terrorists, another civil liberties issue raised over the al-Qaida detainees being held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "You can't make a blanket statement on this," Sensenbrenner said. "You are dealing with people who slink around in the shadows." He suggested a new law clarifying the president's authority but declined to specify what he thought the law should say.