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Wiretapping Bill's Approval Likely

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Los Angeles Times

Published: June 20, 2008

WASHINGTON - After a yearlong battle over U.S. wiretapping laws, House and Senate leaders announced a compromise Thursday on legislation to expand the government's eavesdropping authorities and protect telephone companies that cooperate from being sued.

If approved, the compromise would give U.S. spy agencies sweeping power to siphon international e-mails and phone calls from U.S. fiber-optic networks.

But the measure would require the government to obtain approval from a special court for its eavesdropping procedures and generally prohibit eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without an individual warrant.

Still, the deal was supported by the White House, which called it "a good bill that meets the standards" set by President Bush.

The agreement signaled an end to a standoff between the Bush administration and leading House Democrats, who blocked previous bills over concerns they would sanction an illegal wiretapping program and shield phone companies from liability. Democrats lacked the votes needed to prevail, however, and seemed eager to resolve an election-year dispute that often played to Republicans' political advantage.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who had played a leading role in negotiations, said the compromise "is not perfect, but I believe it strikes a sound balance."

The deal was criticized by some Democrats. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the proposal "is not a compromise; it is a capitulation. ... Democrats should be standing up to the flawed and dangerous policies of this administration."

The measure largely tracks legislation that cleared the Senate last year and appears poised to prevail in the House as well. Congressional officials said the House could vote on the measure as early as today, followed by a Senate vote next week.

The new authorities would expire in 2012. The measure comes on the heels of a series of stop-gap attempts to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and provide a legal foundation for the warrantless wiretapping program authorized by Bush.

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