[link|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61023-2001Oct2.html|What a piece of work].

Excerpt:

The glow of bipartisanship faded a bit on Capitol Hill yesterday as negotiations on an anti-terrorism bill hit a last-minute snag and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft accused the Democratic-controlled Senate of delaying legislation that he says is urgently needed to thwart another terrorist attack.

One day after House negotiators reached a bipartisan compromise on the bill, talks between Bush administration officials and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) stumbled on -- among other things -- a provision setting out rules under which law enforcement agencies could share wiretap and grand jury information with intelligence agencies.

Leahy accused the White House of reneging on an agreement Sunday settling the last significant differences between his committee and the administration on the final shape of the legislation to expand police powers in surveillance and other realms.

Ashcroft, though he did not comment directly on the dispute, complained that the Senate was not moving with sufficient speed given what he said was the urgent need for additional law enforcement tools with which to fight terrorism.