Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's proposal for trying suspected terrorists captured overseas would allow the use of some evidence obtained by coercion and bar defendants from hearings where classified evidence is discussed.

Bush today proposed the legislation so that detainees at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may be brought before military tribunals. The changes are necessary because the Supreme Court ruled on June 29 that Congress hadn't authorized the president to set up such trials.

``Congress is in session just for a few more weeks, and passing this legislation ought to be the top priority,'' Bush said in Washington.

Bush's plan encountered opposition from some Republican lawmakers who support giving defendants access to all evidence against them and want to bar evidence obtained through coercive interrogations. A measure being drafted by three Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee -- Chairman John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- would bar such evidence.

Graham told reporters the law Congress enacts will set a standard for how all combatants, including U.S. troops, are treated when they are taken prisoner in war.

``Whatever passes Congress has to meet one simple test: If it's a trial would I be OK with our guys being tried in that forum?'' Graham, a former Air Force lawyer, asked. ``If it's an interrogation setting would I be OK with our guys being in that interrogation?''

Transfer to Guantanamo

Bush today also announced that 14 detainees held at secret Central Intelligence Agency facilities overseas, including the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, have been transferred to Guantanamo. Bush said the administration plans to try the 14 for war crimes after Congress acts to reconstitute the military tribunals.

McCain told reporters that the ``primary'' disagreement concerns the president's proposal to bar defendants from viewing classified evidence used against them. An administration official who briefed reporters agreed with that assessment, saying that issue likely would be the most contentious question.

White House spokesman Tony Snow sought to play down the differences between the White House and Congress on the proposed legislation. ``It's going to get worked out.''

The administration said classified evidence would be used only in unusual circumstances and only when it wouldn't violate the defendant's right to a fair trial. The detainee's lawyer would be allowed to see the evidence.

Coerced Evidence

The ban on coerced evidence proposed by the three Republican senators is intended to prevent the use of information that may have been obtained by torture inflicted during interrogations in foreign countries. The Bush administration approach would let a judge evaluate that type of evidence on a case-by-base basis.

Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee have ``many issues'' with the president's draft, said Michigan Senator Carl Levin, the panel's top Democrat. Lawmakers are ``working on a bipartisan basis'' to work out changes to produce legislation both parties can support, Levin said.

Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist said he will introduce Bush's legislation so that it can be discussed in the Senate. ``We welcome the president's bill,'' he told reporters.

The legislation from Warner, McCain and Graham, would be offered as a ``stand-alone'' bill for consideration by the Senate this month, John Ullyot, Warner's spokesman, said yesterday.

`Bipartisan' Objections

New York Senator Charles Schumer said today that Democrats are likely to support the Warner, McCain and Graham proposal. He said Bush should have sought authority from Congress from the beginning.

``Their bull-in-a-china-shop approach -- ignore the Constitution, ignore the rule of law -- has made us worse off than we would have been had they gone to Congress originally,'' Schumer said at a news conference at the Capitol.

The Supreme Court said the tribunals originally planned by Bush violated the both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net; Roger Runningen in Washington at 1884 or rrunningen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 6, 2006 18:37 EDT