Senate Approves Spy Bill
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Bill grants legal immunity to telecommunications companies that aided government wiretapping.
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The Senate signaled in a key vote yesterday that it supports giving some of the nation's largest telephone companies immunity from dozens of privacy lawsuits related to a federal domestic eavesdropping program initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
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The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a massive reorganization of the United States intelligence community to address the Sept. 11 commission's complaints that the nation's spy agencies don't work together properly to deter terrorist attacks
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Arkansas senators on Wednesday voted for a major bill to overhaul the nation&#39;s intelligence community that is aimed at preventing future terrorist 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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The U.S. Senate defeated on Tuesday an amendment that would take away legal immunity from telecommunications providers that helped the U.S. National Security Agency conduct surveillance on U.S. residents, earning criticism from two civil liberties groups.The Senate, by a 31-67 vote, defeated an amendment to the FISA Amendments Act, a bill that would make changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and allow the NSA program to continue. In the past, the NSA has conducted telephone and e-mail surveillance of U.S. citizens conversing with terrorist suspects overseas without court-approved warrants.The Senate was scheduled to vote on the full FISA bill late Tuesday.The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) slammed the Senate vote. &quot;Immunity for telecom giants that secretly assisted in the NSA&#39;s warrantless surveillance undermines the rule of law and the privacy of every American,&quot; said EFF senior staff attorney Kevin Bankston. &quot;Congress should let the courts do their job instead of helping the administration and the phone companies avoid accountability for a half decade of illegal domestic spying.&quot;It doesn&#39;t make sense for Congress to work hard on the FISA bill when the NSA and telecom providers can circumvent the law, added Greg Nojeim, CDT&#39;s senior counsel. &quot;The telecom immunity provision sends a message that it&#39;s OK for a telecom to assist with unlawful surveillance when secretly asked to do so by the government,&quot; he said.Democratic Senators Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin had sponsored the amendment to get rid of legal immunity for the telecom providers. AT&amp;T and other telecom carriers are being sued in U.S. court in San Francisco for their participation in the surveillance program, which many civil liberties groups say is illegal.Last month, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech that it is &quot;entirely appropriate&quot; for U.S. intelligence agencies to seek help from private companies like telecom providers, because agencies don&#39;t have all the resources they need to keep the U.S. safe from terrorism.&quot;Some providers are facing dozens of lawsuits right now,&quot; Cheney said then. &quot;Why? Because they are believed to have aided the U.S. government in the effort to intercept international communications of al Qaeda-related individuals.&quot;A House bill, passed in November, does not include legal immunity for telecom providers that participated in the NSA program. The House and Senate would have negotiate the differences in the two bills before sending the legislation to U.S. President George Bush to sign. Bush has threatened to veto a surveillance bill that does not include legal immunity for telecom providers, but congressional authorization for the surveillance program expires Feb. 15.It would be counterproductive for Bush to veto a bill that extends surveillance programs that he says are critical, Bankston said. &quot;The only way they can [get legal immunity] is by fallaciously tying it to something critical,&quot; he said.The EFF will push hard to have House negotiators keep the telecom immunity provisions out of the bill that goes to Bush, Bankston added.The EFF and CDT both prefer the House FISA bill, called the Restore Act. Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill would require court approval of surveillance, and the House version would expire in two years, as opposed to six years in the Senate version. The CDT has produced a chart comparing the two bills.
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The FBI once regularly (and surreptitiously) broke into Americans' homes and offices. Now a Senate bill backed by President Bush seems to offer legal immunity to anyone who helps the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, or the NSA do just that.
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WASHINGTON The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to confirm the nomination of Representative Porter Goss, a Florida Republican, as director of central intelligence.
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The U.S. House of Representatives  approved on Friday a Republican overhaul of U.S. spy agencies,  setting the stage for a battle with the Senate over immigration  controls and the powers to be given to a new national  intelligence director.
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An overwhelming majority of the Senate voted to pass the intelligence-overhaul bill late this afternoon, and the White House said President Bush was willing to work with
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The Senate today approved landmark legislation to restructure the nation&#39;s intelligence community, creating a director of national intelligence and a counterterrorism center.
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Legislation would grant the administration 'even broader authority to spy on Americans,' say privacy advocates.
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The House approved the surveillance measure after rejecting efforts by Democrats and some Republicans to impose greater restrictions on the wiretapping authority.
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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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In what senators from both parties called a potential turning point for US intelligence agencies, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday afternoon to confirm Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla.
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The Senate yesterday approved and sent to President Bush legislation to restructure the nation&#39;s intelligence community, marking a triumph for the federal commission that documented
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The US Senate passes legislation endorsing President Bush's plans to interrogate and prosecute foreign terror suspects.