Bush wins passage of spy bill to protect telecoms

Thomas Ferraro
Reuters
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

President George W. Bush won final congressional approval on Wednesday of liability protection for telecommunication companies that took part in the warrantless domestic spying program he began after the September 11 attacks.

The bill would shield these firms from potentially billions of dollars in damages from privacy lawsuits and implement the biggest overhaul of U.S. spy laws in three decades.

On a vote of 69-28, the Senate approved the measure, previously passed by the House of Representatives, and prepared to send the legislation to Bush to sign into law.

With Bush’s term set to end in January, the vote marked perhaps one his final major triumphs on Capitol Hill and drew a firestorm of criticism from civil liberties groups.

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The measure would replace a temporary spy law that expired in February and modernize the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, to keep pace with changing technology.

It would also bolster judicial and congressional oversight of U.S. surveillance of foreign targets and increase protection of civil liberties of law-abiding Americans swept up in such spy efforts — but not as much as critics charge is needed.

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