Senate Passes Bill to Expand U.S. Spying Powers
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The vote, a major victory for the White House, also gives legal protection to phone companies that aided government wiretapping.
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The US House of Representatives on Friday approved a Republican-written US spy agency overhaul, setting the stage for a battle with the Senate over controversial immigration measures and the new national intelligence director&#39;s power
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The Senate Judiciary Committee today endorsed a bill backed by the White House to have a secret court review the constitutionality of the eavesdropping program.
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(InfoWorld) - A U.S. House of Representatives Committee has approved a controversial bill that would broaden the U.S. government's ability to conduct electronic surveillance on U.S. residents by making it easier for federal law enforcement officials to get court-issued warrants. The Electronic Modernization Surveillance Act,Â opposed by several privacy groups, would also allow federal law enforcement officials to spy on U.S. residents for up to 90 days without a court order in the period after a terrorist attack. The House Judiciary Committee approved the legislation Wednesday by a 20-16 vote, with all committee Democrats present voting against the bill. The bill, sponsored by Representative Heather Wilson, a New Mexico Republican, would reduce the amount of information required from federal agents applying for a wiretapping warrant from the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The bill would clarify that the U.S. government can seek wiretaps on any type of electronic communication, not just telephone- or radio-spectrum-based communication. Republicans praised the bill, saying it will help the U.S. government fight terrorism. The bill will provide the U.S. intelligence agencies "greater agility and flexibility as they try to thwart our determined and dangerous terrorist enemies," Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said in a statement. The full House is expected to vote on the bill by the end of the month. The committee's action comes after U.S. President George Bush called on Congress to approve a controversial electronic surveillance program conducted by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA has conducted the program, reportedly targeting U.S. residents speaking with foreigners who have suspected terrorism connections, without getting court warrants. Bush has asked Congress to authorize the NSA program to ward off multiple court challenges against it. In August, a U.S. judge in Michigan ruled the NSA program is illegal and must be halted. The Bush administration has appealed that ruling. The Senate Judiciary CommitteeÂ approved three surveillance billsÂ last week. The Center for Democracy and Technology, a privacy and civil liberties advocacy group, called the Wilson bill and the Senate's National Security Surveillance Act two of the worst bills now in Congress. "Couched in the seemingly laudable terms of 'modernization,' the bills would radically undermine the privacy of innocent Americans -- not just by legitimizing the administration's warrantless surveillance programs -- but by granting this and future administrations even broader authority to spy on Americans in the United States without judicial review," the CDT said on its Web site.
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Chicago Tribune - After five months of wrangling over power and money, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a sweeping reorganization of the nation's intelligence-gathering practices, leaving it to the Senate to give final passage to a set of reforms designed to significantly change the way U.S. spy agencies detect and track the nation's enemies.
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The U.S. Senate on Wednesday  approved a sweeping overhaul of U.S. spy agencies that would  establish a new powerful national intelligence director post in  response to the Sept. 11 commission report that cited major  failures leading to the attacks.
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President George W. Bush's demand for immunity for telephone companies that participated in his warrantless domestic spying program won an initial victory on Monday in the U.S. Senate.
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Pending legislation would boost powers of Justice Department and Pentagon beyond the point that many senators would accept.
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President Bushâs remarks came the morning after the Senate handed the White House a major victory by voting to broaden the governmentâs spy powers.
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President Bushâs remarks came after the Senate handed the White House a major victory in a vote on spy powers.
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A bill to protect companies from lawsuits for cooperating with the N.S.A. eavesdropping program advanced in the Senate.
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The US Senate passed legislation to reorganize the nation&#39;s intelligence agencies and create a national director of intelligence to oversee efforts to prevent terrorist attacks.
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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Wednesday approved bills intended to fight computer spyware and to protect wireless phone customers from potential privacy problems associated with a wireless phone number directory.
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Senate proposal would scale back a provision of the USA Patriot Act that lets the FBI monitor alleged computer trespassers without a warrant.
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The U.S. government has been increasing its use of the state secrets privilege to avoid disclosure of classified information in civil lawsuits, prompting legislation in the Senate that would provide more congressional oversight of the practice.
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FORT MEADE, Maryland  - President George W. Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to expand the government's domestic spying powers permanently, saying a failure to do so would leave the country vulnerable to another terrorist attack.
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Bill grants legal immunity to telecommunications companies that aided government wiretapping.