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House Takes Up Surveillance Bill PAMELA HESS Against the backdrop of a presidential veto threat, the House readied a vote on an eavesdropping bill that would expand court oversight of government electronic surveillance in the United States. The bill, which was scheduled for a vote Wednesday, allows unfettered surveillance of foreign targets but requires special authorization if the foreign targets are likely to be in contact with people inside the United States — an effort to safeguard Americans' privacy. Critics of the bill say the authorization, commonly referred to as a "blanket warrant," will tie up intelligence agents in red tape, impeding them from conducting urgent surveillance of terrorist suspects. The White House threatened again on Tuesday to veto the measure unless substantive changes are made. President Bush's central objection is the bill's lack of retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that allegedly violated wiretapping and intelligence laws by secretly providing the government access to Americans' e-mails and phone records without court orders.
House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., has said no immunity will be granted until the White House tells Congress exactly what the telecommunications companies did that requires legal protection. The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., joined Tuesday with the Democrats, saying he would not support a retroactive immunity provision until Congress is informed what the companies did.
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