The US House Judiciary Committee has unanimously approved a scaled-back version of US President Mr George W. Bush's anti-terrorism package.
The measure, passed on a vote of 36-0 yesterday, now goes to the full House. It would give law-enforcement officials expanded power to wiretap the telephones of suspected terrorists, share intelligence information about them and track their Internet movements.
Citing civil liberties concerns, the committee omitted from its bill an administration proposal that would allow for the indefinite detention without charges of foreigners deemed security risks.
On the other side of Capitol Hill, Senate negotiators working with members of the White House and Justice Department neared an agreement on a similar bipartisan bill of their own.
A major difference between the two is that many provisions in the House bill, unlike those in the pending Senate version, would expire in two years, Senate aides said.
That is among the reasons why the Bush administration, which favours permanent changes, prefers the Senate bill, they said.