House votes to beef up surveillance oversight

Measure lacks immunity for telecoms who helped government monitor
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday night to strengthen court oversight of the government's surveillance of terrorist suspects but stopped short of providing legal immunity to telecommunication companies that helped eavesdrop on Americans.

The Democratic bill, approved 227-189, was a rebuke to President Bush, who has promised to veto any legislation that does not shield telecom companies from civil lawsuits. About 40 civil suits have been filed alleging the companies broke wiretapping and privacy lawsuits for monitoring phone calls and e-mails without permission of a secret court created 30 years ago for that purpose.

Bush argues that such lawsuits could bankrupt the telecoms, reveal classified information and discourage cooperation with legal surveillance requests.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., left the door open to an immunity deal in the future. But he said the White House must first give Congress access to classified documents specifying what the companies did that requires legal immunity.

"Until then, it's out," Conyers said.

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