President Bush has again urged Congress to pass his version of a law allowing the use of tough interrogation tactics on suspected terrorists.
The president said in his weekly radio address that the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States gave him the opportunity to rededicate himself to protecting the American people. He said two bills he has sent to Congress will provide military and intelligence professionals the tools they need to defeat terrorists and extremists.
One bill would allow U.S. officials to use military commissions to try terrorist suspects who are accused of war crimes. The proposal would allow classified evidence to be withheld from the defendants, and would provide clear rules for detention and interrogation of suspects.
The second piece of legislation would allow the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a warrant on phone calls between the United States and other countries.
Federal courts have ruled both the wiretapping and the military tribunals illegal unless approved by Congress. The Bush administration has criticized those rulings.
On Thursday, a Senate panel rejected the president's bill on interrogation and approved a bill that would give prisoners more legal rights than Mr. Bush's version.
Some information for this report was provided by AP .