President Bush continued his series of speeches around the anniversary of the September 11 attacks Thursday with a new call for Congress to approve his warrantless spy program. In a theme Republicans say they’ll pursue in the lead-up to the November elections, the President said his policies have made the country safer from future attacks.

• President Bush: “We are safer because we’ve taken action to protect the homeland. We are safer because we are on offense against our enemies overseas. We’re safer because of the skill and sacrifice of the brave Americans who defend our people.”

As the President spoke, a bill to authorize the spy program hit a major roadblock in the Senate after Democratic Senator Russ Feingold introduced several amendments. Feingold said: “The president has basically said I’ll agree to let a court decide if I’m breaking the law if you pass a law first that says I’m not breaking [it]. That won’t help re-establish a healthy respect for separation of powers. It will only make matters worse.”