Fergie's Tech Blog

House Democrats May Split On Domestic Spying Bill

Greg Miller writes in The Los Angeles Times:

Under pressure to end an impasse over espionage legislation, House Democrats are considering a plan to vote on a bill next week that would give the government broad new eavesdropping authorities but strip out a provision that would protect phone companies from lawsuits.

Senior Democratic aides said the plan would set up a separate vote on the divisive issue of whether to grant legal immunity to phone companies that took part in a secret wiretapping program authorized by President Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"The objective would be to pass something that is less controversial," yet still allow Democrats to register their objections to the immunity provision, said one senior Democratic aide, speaking on condition of anonymity because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and other party leaders have yet to reach a decision on the matter.

The proposal emerged Friday as a possible endgame in the drawn-out congressional debate over how to overhaul laws that govern when and how American spy agencies can intercept international e-mails and phone calls coming into the United States.

posted by Fergie @ 3/01/2008 01:02:00 PM