Washington ? Leading congressional Republicans announced plans Friday to seek declassification of 2-year-old testimony from Richard Clarke, hoping to show discrepancies between his recent criticisms of the Bush administration’s terrorism policies with flattering statements he made as a White House aide.

It was not clear how aggressively Republicans would pursue the matter, first suggested this week by House Intelligence Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla.

“Mr. Clarke has told two entirely different stories under oath,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said in a speech on the Senate floor.

The Tennessee Republican and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., want Clarke’s July 2002 testimony before the joint House and Senate intelligence inquiry into the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks available publicly.

Frist said Clarke, appearing before the joint committee then as a White House counterterrorism adviser, was “effusive in his praise for the actions of the Bush administration” and told the committee the White House had actively sought to address the al-Qaida threat.

Republicans hope to compare those words with Clarke’s testimony this week before a separate bipartisan commission investigating the attacks. “Your government failed you,” Clarke told the presidentially appointed panel and an audience of victims’ families.

He did not respond to multiple telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment Friday.

The declassification requests marked the latest turn in a Republican counterattack against Clarke, who has leveled his criticism against Bush in a new book, “Against All Enemies,” as well as in interviews and this week’s sworn testimony.

The allegations against Clarke could linger for weeks as the declassification request winds through the appropriate agencies to ensure sensitive national security information isn’t revealed. Often most protected are the “sources and methods” of gathering intelligence.

Goss said he felt an obligation to make sure Congress’ 810-page report, released publicly in 2003, wasn’t “contaminated by this new revelation” from Clarke.

Frist made clear Friday that he isn’t accusing Clarke of perjury. Goss said he was reviewing testimony and other documents and planned to request the declassification — a sometimes lengthy process — in case a need for public hearings or other disclosure arose.

“We have to dig through this,” Goss said, “not only for the continued accuracy and utility of the joint 9-11 report, but now we have this further question: Does this change things, or is it part of a book-selling tour?”

It was not clear whether Clarke testified two years ago — as he did this week — that some senior administration officials almost immediately called for strikes against Iraq in response to the 9-11 strikes.

Former Senate Intelligence Chairman Bob Graham, D-Fla., who worked with Goss on the inquiry, supported the declassification of Clarke’s testimony in its entirety and suggested the administration open the door even wider to include documents — including Clarke’s January 2002 al-Qaida plan — that could help resolve issues in dispute.