October 26, 2001	Friday	Shaba'an 8, 1422

WASHINGTON, Oct 25: The US Senate passed an anti-terrorism bill on Thursday giving the government expanded police and surveillance powers in response to the Sept 11 terror strikes on the United States.

The Senate approved the bill 98-1, after the House passed it on Wednesday.

“These laws will help ensure that Americans will never be violated in the way we were on September 11,” said Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, from the western state of Utah in reference to the terror attacks that left about 5,000 people dead.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said President George W. Bush was expected to sign the bill into law on Friday.

“You will be put in jail and kept in custody as long as possible,” Ashcroft said earlier on Thursday in a warning to those with suspected terrorist ties, vowing to rid US streets of all terrorist elements.

The legislation, dubbed the Patriot Act, includes a raft of measures that expand electronic surveillance powers and intelligence information sharing, amend immigration laws to “broaden the scope of aliens ineligible for admission” and provide for the mandatory detention until deportation of an alien found to be a suspected terrorist or a threat to national security.

It also sets out penalties for those in knowing possession, in certain circumstances, of biological agents, toxins, or delivery systems; penalties for support of terrorism through expert advice or assistance; and for harboring any person known to have committed or to be about to commit a terrorism offense.

The bill also includes new measures to combat money laundering.

It was the subject of tough negotiations between the White House and Congress, with some Democrats initially concerned that the legislation would jeopardize constitutionally protected individual rights.

But Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was satisfied with the end result.

“This reflects the balance between protection of civil liberties and privacy with the need for greater law enforcement,” said the Democrat from South Dakota.

A number of the measures included in the comprehensive bill, such as those on electronic surveillance, are to expire within four years, or by 2006, when Congress would re-examine the effectiveness of the measures.—AFP