F.B.I.’s Reach Into Records Is Set to Grow By ERIC LICHTBLAU, NYTimes

A little-noticed measure approved by both the House and Senate would significantly expand the F.B.I.’s power to demand financial records, without a judge’s approval, from car dealers, travel agents, pawnbrokers and many other businesses, officials said on Tuesday. …

Officials said the measure, which is tucked away in the intelligence community’s authorization bill for 2004, gives agents greater flexibility and speed in seeking to trace the financial assets of people suspected of terrorism and espionage. It mirrors a proposal that President Bush outlined in a speech two months ago to expand the use of administrative subpoenas in terrorism cases.

Critics said the measure would give the federal government greater power to pry into people’s private lives.

“This dramatically expands the government’s authority to get private business records,” said Timothy H. Edgar, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “You buy a ring for your grandmother from a pawnbroker, and the record on that will now be considered a financial record that the government can get.”