Gonzales fights for passage

Some lawmakers want to add more protection in the bill.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The fight over renewing the USA Patriot Act escalated Tuesday, with the Bush administration saying the nation's security depends on congressional approval before year's end and the Senate's top Democrat joining an effort to block passage.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., supports efforts to delay the vote, including a filibuster threatened by fellow Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, "so there will be more time to work on a good bipartisan bill," said his spokesman, Jim Manley.
Meanwhile, President Bush sent his top law enforcement officer to Capitol Hill to demand that Congress pass a House-Senate accord that would renew more than a dozen provisions of the act before they expire Dec. 31.
Delaying or blocking passage as opponents urge, would "make it much more difficult to restructure the Department of Justice in a way that continues the protection of this country," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told reporters on Capitol Hill on the eve of a House vote.
"The time to act is now," he added.
Extending provisions
Senate Democrats joined by some libertarian-leaning Republicans want to extend the expiring provisions of the law by three months to give Congress time to add more protections against what they say are excessive police powers.
"There's no reason to compromise right to due process, the right to a judicial review, fair and reasonable standards of evidence in the pursuit of our security," said Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., one of several senators urging Congress to move the expiration date to March 31.
The House is expected to pass the accord today, but its success in the Senate has been unclear for weeks.
Reid's announcement escalates a pitched end-of-session debate in which supporters and opponents of the House-Senate agreement are trading charges on who strikes the better balance between being tough on terrorists and protecting civil liberties.
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