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President, Congress Face Off Over FISA

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By DEB RIECHMANN, The Associated Press

Published: February 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - In a day of political brinkmanship, President Bush pressured the House on Thursday to finish a bill giving the government more leeway to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists.
House Democrats didn't budge and angry Republicans staged a walkout down the Capitol steps.

From the White House, Bush argued that the House has plenty of time to pass a bill before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires at midnight Saturday. The president plans to leave on a trip to Africa this afternoon, but said he'd delay his departure and stay in Washington "if it will help them complete their work on this critical bill."

On Capitol Hill, House Republicans stormed out of the House chamber to boycott a vote to hold presidential confidants Harriet Myers and Josh Bolten in contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into whether federal prosecutors were ousted for political reasons.

A short time later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had instructed the chairmen of the House intelligence and judiciary committees to meet with their Senate counterparts by today to start reconciling the House and Senate eavesdropping legislation - something she predicted could be done within 21 days.

The first step must be reconciliation of the two bills, she said, adding: "If the president wants to work together on that - we have been trying mightily to get the administration to engage."

Bush is backing the Senate-passed bill, which includes retroactive protection from lawsuits that telecommunications companies are facing because they cooperated with government eavesdropping after the Sept. 11 attacks. The House bill does not provide immunity from lawsuits for the telecommunications companies.

Bush wants the House to pass the Senate version so he can sign it into law immediately. Bush has said he will not approve another extension, and House Republicans helped defeat a 21-day extension of the law Thursday.

In his second statement on the bill at the White House in two days, Bush said that "it would be a mistake" if Congress allowed the law to expire.

"Members of Congress knew all along that this deadline was approaching," he said. "They set it themselves. They've had more than six months to discuss and deliberate. And now they must act."

He rebuffed claims that the issue had turned into a political game of chicken.

"I certainly hope not," Bush said. "I can assure you al-Qaida, in their planning, isn't thinking about politics. They're thinking about hurting the American people again."

In a letter to Bush, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats stand ready to reconcile the two bills, but that the current law should be extended until that could be accomplished.

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