NYT : Bush Urges House to Approve Spying Measure

Bush Urges House to Approve Spying Measure

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | August 4, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House on Saturday delayed action on a Senate-passed bill to expand the government's abilities to eavesdrop without warrants on foreign suspects whose communications pass through the United States.

Lawmakers in both parties said they expected the measure to pass late Saturday or early Sunday.

The bill would update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA. It would give the government leeway to intercept, without warrants, communications between foreigners that are routed through equipment in United States, provided that ''foreign intelligence information'' is at stake.

President Bush has described the effort as an anti-terrorist program, but the bill is not limited to terror suspects and could have wider applications, some lawmakers said.

The government long has had substantial powers to intercept purely foreign communications that don't touch U.S. soil.

If a U.S. resident becomes the chief target of surveillance, the government would have to obtain a warrant from the special FISA court.

Bush and his allies demanded that Congress approve the FISA changes before starting its August recess. ''Al-Qaida is not going on vacation this month,'' said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Congressional Democrats won a few concessions in negotiations earlier in the week. New wiretaps must be approved by the director of national intelligence and the attorney general, not just the attorney general. Congress has battled with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on several issues, and some Democrats have accused him of perjury.

The new law would expire in six months unless Congress renewed it. The administration wanted the changes to be permanent.

Many congressional Democrats wanted tighter restrictions on government surveillance, but yielded in the face of Bush's veto threats and the impending August break.

The administration began pressing for changes to the law after a recent ruling by the FISA court. That decision barred the government from eavesdropping without warrants on foreign suspects whose messages were being routed through U.S. communications carriers, including Internet sites.

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The bill is S 1927.