COLUMBIA - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says America is winning both the war on terror and the war on crime in its own back yard.

Ashcroft spoke to about 200 prosecutors, police officers and other law officials Wednesday as part of a tour to gain support for the enhanced enforcement tactics in the USA Patriot Act, which some have criticized for trampling on civil liberties.

The Attorney General also wants to gain support for several Justice Department initiatives from cracking down on gun crimes to encouraging tougher prison sentences.

The new efforts, along with the hard work of police officers on the streets and prosecutors in the courtrooms, have caused the nation's crime rate to drop to a 30-year low, Ashcroft said.

"Together, we are protecting homes," Ashcroft said. "Together, we are saving lives."

Ashcroft spent just five minutes of his 25-minute speech talking about the Patriot Act, which was passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The law expanded government surveillance capabilities, toughened criminal penalties for terrorists and allowed greater sharing of intelligence.

Ashcroft said the law took tools the government was allowed to use to fight drug smugglers and organized crime and extended them to terrorists.

Civil liberties groups and an increasing number of Democrats and Republicans in Congress say the new rules infringe on freedoms without providing much help on the war on terror.

Ashcroft disagrees.

"America is freer today than any other time," he said, noting that there have been no terror attacks on U.S. soil since those two years ago.

The crowd, full of police uniforms and conservative suits, interrupted Ashcroft's speech several times with applause.

Afterward, many said they liked what they heard.

"All of this just makes sense," said York County prosecutor Tommy Pope. "In my mind, I equate the fight on terror to the drug trade, because that's what I am used to. We should have the same tools to fight both."

Pope, who was a narcotics agent at the State Law Enforcement Division early in his career, said the Patriot Act makes prosecutors' jobs easier by making the justice system more efficient without taking away basic liberties.

In the rest of the speech, Ashcroft discussed other Justice Department initiatives he said had reduced crime across the country.