[JURIST] US House Judiciary Committee [official site] Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) [official profile] introduced a House bill [HR 3199 text] Monday to make existing provisions of the Patriot Act [JURIST news archive] permanent, but stopped short of adding new provisions recommended by the Senate Intelligence Committee and requested by the Bush administration. He had earlier objected [JURIST report] to granting federal law enforcement the authority to issue "administrative subpoenas" without judicial approval. Sensenbrenner's bill would entrench 16 Patriot Act provisions conferring broad anti-terror investigatory powers [Washington Post report] set to expire at the end of the year, and would also tighten some requirements for the FBI to obtain documents. The bill faces opposition not only from House Democrats, but also from Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website], who prefers extending the deadlines of the Act's powers to a blanket permanency. AP has more.