Agreement Reached on Patriot Act Changes - Yahoo! News

Agreement Reached on Patriot Act Changes - Yahoo! News: "By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent Thu Feb 9, 6:57 PM ET

WASHINGTON - A band of Senate Republican holdouts reached agreement Thursday with the White House on changes in the Patriot Act designed to clear the way for passage of anti-terror legislation stalled in a dispute over civil liberties.

Sen. John Sununu (news, bio, voting record), R-N.H. said the changes, quickly endorsed by at least one leading Democrat, would better 'protect civil liberties even as we give law enforcement important tools to conduct terrorism investigation.'

The White House embraced the deal even before Sununu and several other senators outlined it.

Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said the agreement would 'continue to build upon the civil liberties protections that are in place but do so in a way that doesn't compromise our national security priorities.'

'We're pleased that this important legislation is moving forward,' he said.

The compromise focused on three areas:

_giving recipients of subpoenas for information in terrorist investigations the right to challenge a requirement that they refrain from telling anyone.

_eliminating a requirement that an individual provide the
FBI with the name of a lawyer consulted about a National Security Letter, which is a secret request for records.

_clarifying that most libraries are not subject to demands in those letters for information about suspected terrorists.

While there was no immediate reaction from House Republicans, Sen. Larry Craig (news, bio, voting record), R-Idaho, one of the Senate negotiators, said he had been in close touch with the chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.

Reaction from the Democrats was divided.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, second-ranking in the Democratic leadership, appeared at the GOP news conference. He said the compromise included 'significant progress' toward protecting basic liberties and that he planned to support the compromise.

The party's leader, Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada, said in a statement that the agreement among Republicans 'appears to be a step in the right direction.'

But Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., threatened a filibuster.

The senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, criticized the White House. At the same time, his office left open the possibility he would support the measure."