By LARA JAKES JORDAN and LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales conceded Wednesday he used confusing language when describing national security efforts during recent Senate testimony, seeking to set the record straight about the government’s terror surveillance program and clear questions about his credibility.

His letter to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stopping short of an apology, came as congressional Democrats agreed to give the government greater authority to spy on foreign terror suspects - but only temporarily and by limiting Gonzales’ role in deciding how the power is used.

The Bush administration is urgently pushing Congress to revamp a 1978 law to detect terror plots overseas, but it has faced sharp criticism of the FBI’s misuse of terror investigation tools and widespread skepticism about Gonzales’ honesty.

More at the AP