The Guardian
Thursday September 30, 2004 2:16 PM
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - New immigration barriers and expanded police powers, as well as making more of the public airwaves available for emergency services, are some of the issues trying to find a home in a bill to overhaul U.S. spy agencies.
With the political pressure of an Election Day coming up, Democrats are complaining that too many items they consider extraneous have gotten tacked onto legislation designed to enact recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission on better fighting terrorism.
``There are many provisions in this bill that have no relation or tangential relation to the 9/11 commission report,'' Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. ``We should consider them in a bill separate from this.''
The House and Senate are churning their way through separate bills to create a national intelligence director and a national counterterrorism center to address the Sept. 11 commission's complaint that the nation's intelligence agencies didn't work together properly to stop the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4525375,00.html