House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill., has agreed to modify a stalled anti-terrorism bill to mollify conservative Republicans who had complained the measure would give federal law-enforcement officials too much power.
In a letter to House colleagues, Hyde said the changes would maintain "the effectiveness of the bill to deter future terrorist acts."Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., a member of the House Judiciary Committee who led opposition to the bill, said the changes "have significantly improved the chances for passage."
But the modifications may make more difficult a House-Senate conference to reconcile the two chambers' versions of the bill. The Senate bill, passed in June on a 91-to-8 vote, includes some of the provisions Hyde agreed to drop.
The bill could be on the House floor as soon as this week, according to House aides.
Hyde agreed to drop provisions that would expand the government's authority to use wiretaps and would allow the military to be used to assist civilian law-enforcement officials in cases involving bombs, poison gas, biological weapons or nuclear devices.
Hyde also agreed to modify the measure's definition of terrorism, which some Republicans said was too broad. In addition, Hyde added provisions, part of anti-crime legislation the House passed earlier this year, that would:
- Limit appeals by death-row inmates.
- Compel criminals to compensate their victims in federal cases.
- Allow the process of deporting criminal aliens to begin when they are sentenced, so they may be expelled once they get out of prison.
President Clinton pushed the legislation as a response to the Oklahoma City bombing last April.