THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506080467
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long : 128 lines
The Senate on Wednesday approved broad counterterrorism legislation that would give authorities expanded powers, make it easier to deport illegal aliens suspected of terrorism and limit most death row prisoners to one appeal in federal court.
Seven weeks after the Oklahoma City bombing, and after four days of heated debate, the package of bills - the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act of 1995 - won passage on a vote of 91-8, with wide bipartisan support.
Although drafted by the Republican majority, the legislation would give President Clinton most of the provisions he requested in a counterterrorism measure he first proposed after the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.
``This legislation will give law enforcement the tools it needs to do everything possible to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again,'' Clinton said. ``It will also help us prosecute and punish terrorists more effectively. I urge the House to do its part and get a bill on my desk without delay.''
The House plans to begin action on a similar measure next week, virtually ensuring enactment of the bill, probably this summer. Also, the House has approved legislation to restrict death row appeals, and sources said it was likely to agree to its inclusion in the anti-terrorism bill.
At the insistence of Republicans, Clinton's anti-terrorism proposals were broadened to include the GOP's long-sought goal of sharply curtailing the habeas corpus appeals under which state-imposed death sentences can be challenged in federal court on constitutional grounds.
The bill would limit most death row inmates to one appeal filed within one year under time limits that would conclude most cases within two years of sentencing, ending the filing of multiple appeals that have gone on as long as 17 or 18 years. A second appeal would be allowed only under narrow circumstances, including new evidence that could not have been discovered during the first trial that shows ``clear and convincing evidence'' of innocence.
The legislation would ``stop the frivolous appeals that are driving people nuts,'' Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, argued during debate.
But critics contended it would trample on one of the nation's most basic guarantees of a right to fair trial. ``The perpetrators of the Oklahoma City tragedy will have triumphed if their actions prompt us to short-circuit the Constitution,'' said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Nearly 3,000 prisoners are under death sentence nationwide, hundreds for a decade or more. The bill would have no effect on state processes that often drag on for years.
As recently as two weeks ago, Clinton opposed inclusion of the habeas provisions in the anti-terrorism legislation. But he reversed himself Monday, cutting the ground out from under Democrats resisting the move.
Democrats failed to whittle back GOP habeas proposals. Conservative Republicans fared no better in an effort to virtually wipe out habeas appeals to federal courts, losing 61-38.
While Senate Republicans originally eliminated some of Clinton's anti-terrorism proposals, the Senate gradually added most of them back, including new wiretap authority, expanded use of the military and authority to put traceable elements in some explosives.
Civil liberties groups have complained the bill goes too far, although senators of both parties agreed that individual rights were protected.
The anti-terrorism bill, drafted by Hatch and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, would authorize more than $2 billion over five years - Clinton proposed $1.5 billion - to strengthen anti-terrorism activities, including 1,000 new law enforcement officials.
It would increase penalties for terrorist crimes and conspiracies involving explosives, broaden federal jurisdiction over terror-motivated crimes and create a federal death penalty for terrorist murders.
A major difference between the House and Senate bills disappeared when the Senate agreed to Clinton's proposal, approved by the House, that military personnel be used for technical assistance in cases of domestic terrorism involving biological and chemical weapons. The military can help now only in cases involving nuclear weapons. ILLUSTRATION: [color photo] Agence-France Presse File\April 20, 1995
Senate votes comes seven after bombing in Oklahoma City
Graphic
HOW THEY VOTED
A ``yes'' vote is a vote to pass the bill.
John W. Warner, R-Va.Yes
Charles S. Robb, D-Va.Yes
Jesse A. Helms, R-N.C.Yes
Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C.Yes
HIGHLIGHTS OF BILL
The Senate bill to combat terrorism would:
Make international terrorism a federal crime.
Enable federal authorities to deport suspect aliens more easily.
Sharply restrict the right of death-row inmates to appeal their
sentences to federal courts.
Enable federal authorities to use court-approved ``roving
wiretaps'' to monitor telephones suspected of being used by
terrorists.
Allow the U.S. military to assist civil authorities in
emergencies involving chemical or biological weapons of mass
destruction.
Permit the State Department to summarily deny entry visas to
persons associated with groups suspected of terrorism or to citizens
of countries suspected of sponsoring terrorism.
Add up to 1,000 federal agents to investigate suspected
terrorists and set up a new counter-terrorism office in the FBI.
Empower the president to identify specific foreign groups as
terrorist and ban American citizens from collecting money for or
contributing to such groups.
Give federal agents greater access to the financial records,
credit card data, telephone logs and hotel stays of suspected
terrorists.
Require the addition of chemical tracers, called ``taggants,'' to
commercial explosives such as dynamite and plastique and to
gunpowder sold in bulk quantities; small amounts of powder used by
sportsmen to repack small-arms cartridges would not be tagged.
Increase the statute of limitations for federal gun crimes to
five years from three for such offenses as bomb-making, possessing
sawed-off shotguns, and converting firearms from semiautomatic to
fully automatic.
Authorize up to $10 million in rewards for information leading to
the discovery and conviction of terrorists.
Increase a wide range of penalties for conviction of terrorist
crimes.
by CNB