U.S. Senate panel votes to extend security law

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate Judiciary Committee, drawing criticism from both liberals and conservatives, voted on Thursday to extend expiring provisions of a post-September 11 law designed to protect the United States from another attack.

On a vote of 11-8, the committee sent legislation to the full Senate for consideration, amid disagreement over whether the measure properly balanced civil liberties with national security.

Crossing party lines on the Democratic-led committee, two Republicans joined nine Democrats in voting for the bill, while three Democrats and five Republicans voted against.

Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat and a chief sponsor of the bill to extend the provisions another four years while bolstering protection of legal rights, said, "I remain mindful of our responsibility to ensure both security and liberty."

"We have taken the (Obama) administration up on its offer to work with us to 'provide additional protection for the privacy of law-abiding Americans' and have done so without undermining the operational effectiveness of the counterterrorism tools," Leahy said.

But liberal critics complained that the added protections were inadequate, and conservative foes charged that the changes would undermine investigative efforts. The bill is certain to face a crush of proposed amendments in the full Senate.

The three provisions are set to expire at the end of this year unless extended by Congress. They are part of the USA Patriot Act, which was drafted and passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

One provision provides federal agents the authority to conduct "roving wiretaps," which target an individual rather than a specific telephone number.

Others authorize the tracking of a "lone wolf," defined as a foreign target who is not part of a suspected enemy group, and provide federal agents access to personal records.

(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro; editing by Anthony Boadle)