Bush asks for wider anti-terrorism powers

WASHINGTON -- President Bush told Congress Wednesday to "untie the hands" of law enforcement officials and arm them with wider legal powers to combat terrorists, saying the groups that struck America two years ago are wounded but still dangerous.\nHe specifically called for expanding use of the federal death penalty, tougher bail restrictions and greater subpoena powers that he said are available for other crimes, such as drug trafficking and embezzling, but can't be used against terrorism.\n"This disparity in the law makes no sense," Bush said in a speech at the FBI Academy in nearby Quantico, Va.\nBush's appeal threw the White House into a growing debate over the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act enacted after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Critics say the law is too intrusive and a threat to civil liberties and fear that the administration is trying to pass a second version of the measure in piecemeal fashion. Even some House and Senate Republicans have talked about rolling back portions of the Patriot Act.\n"For the sake of the American people," Bush said, "Congress should change the law and give law enforcement officials the same tools they have to fight terror that they have to fight other crime."\nBush acknowledged that not all members of Congress agree with the need to tighten the law but said a lot of them do. The White House indicated Bush supports tougher laws in other areas beyond the three instances he cited.\nThe American Civil Liberties Union said that "further erosions of judicial oversight and the basic checks and balances ... are the wrong path to take."\nThe president's speech vied for attention with new video and audio tapes of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy, broadcast on the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera. A voice said to be that of bin Laden praised the Sept. 11 attacks for causing "great damage to the enemy." Another voice attributed to bin Laden top aide Ayman al-Zawahri called on Iraqi guerrillas to "bury" American troops in Iraq.\n"Haven't heard it yet," Bush said about the tape as he toured a ballistics room and a chemistry lab at Quantico, where he saw sensitive equipment used to identify material from explosions at the USS Cole, embassies in Africa and the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.\nOn the eve of the second anniversary of Sept. 11, the White House issued a progress report on the anti-terrorism war and Bush renewed the national emergency he declared two years ago to mobilize reserve military forces and take other steps. Nearly two-thirds of al Qaeda's key leaders have been captured or killed, the report said, and terrorist networks have lost access to $200 million.\n"We've thwarted terrorists in Buffalo, and Seattle, Portland, Detroit, North Carolina, and Tampa, Fla.," Bush said, drawing from information in the report. "More than 260 suspected terrorists have been charged in the United States courts; more than 140 have already been convicted."\nWhile claiming solid progress, Bush warned that the nation could not rest.