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The department also divulged for the first time that the number of material witnesses held in terrorism investigations as of January was "fewer than 50." Officials said they could not provide the exact number for security reasons.

The department has stepped up its detentions of material witnesses as a tactic in terrorism investigations. While some high-profile detentions have become known publicly, most have been kept secret and the federal authorities have refused to say how many people they have detained using this method.

The department's report said that about 90 percent of the material witnesses were held for 90 days or less, 80 percent were held for 60 days or less, and about half were held for 30 days or less.

The department maintained that its expanded powers had given it greater speed and flexibility in responding to terrorist threats. In the case of the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, for instance, the department said a provision of the law allowing a court to issue a search warrant in another jurisdiction allowed a Washington judge to issue a warrant for Florida.

That "saved investigators from wasting valuable time on petitioning another judge in another district for that authority," the department said.

Provisions of the act were also put to use in tracing Internet communications during the investigation into the murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, as well as in investigating kidnappings, a school bomb scare and other breaking investigations in the United States, the department said.

Lawmakers at today's hearing of a House Judiciary subcommittee said they agreed that the continuing terrorist threat required more inventive responses from law enforcement. But Republicans and Democrats alike said they shared concerns about civil liberties implications for ordinary Americans.

"As we move forward in the process of providing the strong measures that are necessary to combat terrorism, we must also keep in mind the importance of protecting civil liberties Americans hold dear," said Representative Steve Chabot, Republican of Ohio, who presided at the meeting.

The new data from the department did little to mollify some Congressional critics who accused the department of withholding information critical to an assessment of its performance on terrorism.

"I would hope that the administration would be more responsive to Congressional requests for specific, rather than general, information," said Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York. " `We can't tell you,' or, in effect, `it's none of your business' are not adequate or acceptable answers."

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