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Ashcroft faces House critics on Patriot Act
Washington, June 05: US Attorney General John Ashcroft asked Congress today for expanded powers to hold suspected terrorists indefinitely before trials and to let him seek the death penalty or life imprisonment for any terrorist act.
Washington, June 05: US Attorney General John Ashcroft asked Congress today for expanded powers to hold suspected terrorists indefinitely before trials and to let him seek the death penalty or life imprisonment for any terrorist act.
Ashcroft told the House judiciary committee that the 2001 Patriot Act signed into law after the Sept. 11 attacks should also be expanded to let prosecutors bring charges against anyone who supports or works with suspected terrorist groups as "material supporters."
"The law has several weaknesses which terrorists could exploit, undermining our defences," Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft, who held up copies of al-Qaida's declarations of war against America and read aloud some of the names of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said new penalties in the USA Patriot Act have helped the Justice Department prevent more terrorist attacks in America.
Ashcroft also said the department did not break any laws despite an internal justice department report that criticized the government's treatment of illegal aliens held after the attacks .
The department's inspector-general found "significant problems' in the Bush administration's actions toward 762 foreigners held on immigration violations after the attacks. Only one, Zacarias Moussaoui, has been charged in the United States with a terrorism-related crime; 505 have been deported.
Bureau Report
"The law has several weaknesses which terrorists could exploit, undermining our defences," Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft, who held up copies of al-Qaida's declarations of war against America and read aloud some of the names of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said new penalties in the USA Patriot Act have helped the Justice Department prevent more terrorist attacks in America.
Ashcroft also said the department did not break any laws despite an internal justice department report that criticized the government's treatment of illegal aliens held after the attacks .
The department's inspector-general found "significant problems' in the Bush administration's actions toward 762 foreigners held on immigration violations after the attacks. Only one, Zacarias Moussaoui, has been charged in the United States with a terrorism-related crime; 505 have been deported.
Bureau Report