WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. House of Representatives gave overwhelming approval today to a compromise anti-terrorism bill giving police new power to secretly search the homes of terrorism suspects, tap all their phones and track their use of the Internet. The bill passed 357-66. It was to be taken up by the Senate later in the day or Thursday with the idea of getting it to President Bush for a possible Friday signing at the White House.
"The House is taking a responsible step forward by giving law enforcement the tools necessary to secure the safety of Americans while protecting our constitutional rights," Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said after the vote.
Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have been calling for the legislation since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, but civil liberty and privacy concerns by House and Senate members have delayed the legislation.
But lawmakers reached a compromise last week on Bush's legislation, which would expand the FBI's wiretapping and electronic surveillance authority, impose stronger penalties on those who harbour or finance terrorists and increase punishments of terrorists.
"This landmark legislation will provide law enforcement and intelligence agencies additional tools that are needed to address the threat of terrorism and to find and prosecute terrorist criminals," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who chairs the House Judiciary Committee.
Some House members say the bill gives the government too much power. They complained about House leaders dumping a GOP-Democratic compromise approved unanimously by the committee in favour of the modified Senate version.
"This is one of the most important measures that we will determine because it is anti-terrorist legislation that expands the law in many directions," said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., added: "It's not just limited to terrorism. Had it been limited to terrorism, this bill could have passed three or four weeks ago without much discussion.''