Intel Panel OKs Surveillance Bill

AP
Friday October 19, 2007

Immunity for telecommunications companies that tapped Americans' telephones and computers without court approval could present a hurdle for a bill written to strengthen oversight of government surveillance.

The Senate Intelligence Committee approval Thursday of the bill, 13-2, doesn't guarantee the legislation will become law. It still must get the blessing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose top Republican and Democratic members have expressed skepticism about the immunity provision.

The bill also remains stalled in the House. It ran aground Wednesday in a partisan dispute over the immunity issue and the broader question of how much oversight power the courts should have over surveillance.

The Senate bill would direct civil courts to dismiss lawsuits against telecommunications companies if the attorney general certifies the company rendered assistance between Sept. 11, 2001, and Jan. 17, 2007, in response to a written request authorized by the president, to help detect or prevent an attack on the United States.

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