US House passes spy bill, challenges White House
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US House of Representatives on Friday passed a wiretap surveillance bill which President George W. Bush has vowed to veto, deepening a standoff over anti-terror espionage powers.
The Democratic-led House voted 213 to 197 to adopt the measure, which fails to provide retroactive legal immunity for telecommunications firms which cooperated in surveillance after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The vote, before Congress leaves for a two-week spring break, ensures the showdown on the balance between eavesdropping powers and civil liberties will drag on for weeks, even as the White House warns the wrangle threatens American security.
Bush supports a bill already passed by the Senate, which does provide the immunity, sought by telecommunications providers who may have allowed the government to monitor emails and telephone calls routed through US servers.
White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto condemned the House action as a "significant step backward in defending our country against terrorism."
"The good news is that the House bill will be dead on arrival in the Senate and, in any event, would be vetoed by the President if it ever got to his desk," Fratto said.
Republican House minority leader John Boehner condemned the Democrats for allowing the issue to fester over the legislature's recess.
"This flawed legislation has no chance of becoming law, and the majority knows it," he said.
"The fact that Congress is going on spring break, at a time when Al-Qaeda and other terrorist enemies continue plotting against us, is both irresponsible and dangerous."
But Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the House bill was an improvement on the Senate version, and accused the Bush administration of sabotaging efforts to come up with a compromise.
"Unfortunately, congressional Republicans and the administration have refused to engage in meaningful discussions or negotiations about the legislation," Leahy said.
"The White House has tried, again, to treat Congress like a rubber stamp."
The vote came after the House late Thursday went into its first secret session for a quarter century to discuss national security aspects of the bill.
Security officers were directed to seal and sweep the chamber for listening devices, and to ensure reporters and members of the public were cleared, before the session, believed to be only the fifth ever such event, could start.
The House let the previous law expire on February 16 after it refused to rubber-stamp a Senate bill that would have given telecommunication companies immunity from prosecution after they cooperated in wiretaps after the September 11 attacks.
The new House version of the bill strips the Senate grant of immunity for the firms, and will now be sent back to the other chamber.
