US Congress approves expanded wiretap powers

US Congress approves expanded wiretap powers

* Bill allows US agencies to listen in on telephone and e-mail conversations

WASHINGTON: The US Congress late Saturday gave final approval to a White House-backed plan to extend the power of US intelligence agents to eavesdrop on terror suspects, giving a long-sought victory to President George W Bush.

The House of Representatives voted for the bill 227-183, one day after it won approval by the US Senate. The measure allows US intelligence agencies to listen in on telephone and e-mail conversations mainly outside the United States, but routed through US-based communications firms.

Under the bill, intelligence officers will be able to listen in to such conversations without obtaining prior approval from a special court. The bill will have to be re-authorised after six months.

The House vote came after President Bush pressed its members earlier Saturday to swiftly pass the spying legislation.

“Protecting America is our most solemn obligation and I urge the House to pass this bill without delay,” Bush said.

On Friday, the House rejected a more restrictive Democratic Party alternative. “My Republican colleagues chose to rubberstamp a flawed administration proposal,” said Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, accusing the White House of misusing anti-terror powers in the past.

Democrats were angry because they claimed the Republican approach would allow Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, target of their demands for perjury and impeachment proceedings, to authorize wide-ranging surveillance. US intelligence czar Mike McConnell however rejected the Democratic alternatives, saying they contained too much “uncertainty.

“I must have certainty in order to protect the nation from attacks that are being planned today to inflict mass casualties on the United States,” he said.

The White House wanted Congress to endorse eavesdropping on conversations between suspected terrorists abroad without prior court approval.

Democratic proposals allowed that, but said individual warrants should be required before agents can listen in on a conversation involving one party in the United States, in a bid to protect civil liberties. The White House said it was unreasonable to force agents to get the court to agree ahead of time to listen to conversations between a target abroad who makes frequent calls to a contact who happens to be on US soil.

The rush to change US law came after a US federal judge earlier this year secretly ruled a key element of the electronic telephone wiretapping program was illegal.

The ruling held that the Bush administration had overstepped its authority in trying to eavesdrop on communications between two locations abroad that are passed through routing stations in US territory. Republican Senator Christopher Bond, who sponsored the Senate version, warned that failure to act promptly could endanger US security. “The important thing is that we move now, before we leave for vacation, to make sure that the United States intelligence agency is not deaf for the entire month of August when the threat may be gaining significant grounds,” he said. afp

source : dailytimes.com.pk