House defies Bush to pass wiretap bill

Extending a battle with the Bush administration over espionage laws, Democrats in the House pushed through legislation Friday that would give the government expanded wiretapping authorities but would not shield phone companies from lawsuits for aiding U.S. spy agencies.

The bill was approved in the face of a veto threat from President Bush, who has campaigned to have Congress expand the government’s powers to intercept international e-mails and phone calls that pass through the United States and to compel telecommunications companies to cooperate.

The legislation, which passed 213-197 on a party-line vote, came just before lawmakers left for a two-week recess. The action was the latest in a series of attempts by Congress to update electronic surveillance laws that were passed before the rise of the Internet and cellphones.

But Friday’s vote did little to move toward a resolution. The House measure must be reconciled with a Senate version that is far closer to what the Bush administration has sought.

The vote also reflects an emerging willingness by House Democrats to defy the White House on a national security issue after being accused of succumbing to administration pressure in recent years out of fear of being seen as soft on terrorism.

Republicans suggest that House Democrats are leaving the nation vulnerable by failing to pass legislation that had been the subject of intense lobbying by top U.S. intelligence officials, including Director of National Intelligence J. Michael McConnell.

“The Pelosi Democrats are rolling the dice with our national security,” said Sen. Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the intelligence committee, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

House Democrats call such criticism a scare tactic and say the legislation strikes a balance between providing spy agencies tools to monitor terrorist communications while protecting civil liberties.

House Intelligence Committee member Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.) said the bill was passed despite a “relentless drumbeat of propaganda and disinformation orchestrated by the administration.”

Late Thursday, the House held a closed session at the request of Republicans to debate the bill without fear of divulging classified information. The closed session was the House’s first since 1983.

The House and Senate measures each represent attempts to overhaul the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The House language would expand the government’s authority to intercept e-mails and phone calls passing through the United States, and give the government the power to compel telecommunications companies to give U.S. spy agencies extensive access to data flowing across their networks.

The disagreement has been over granting retroactive immunity to those firms from lawsuits for taking part in a warrantless wiretapping program, authorized by Bush after Sept. 11 that involved monitoring communications of U.S. citizens. AT&T;, Verizon and other firms face at least 38 suits.

The Senate version would grant those companies retroactive liability protection. Prospects for reconciling the House and Senate versions in a form that could win the president’s support remain unclear.

An aide to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) said, “There are places we can compromise. . . . But I don’t yet see what the endgame is on liability relief.”

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greg.miller@latimes.com