Bush signs 15-day extension of surveillance law, Congress endorses extension

www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-01 04:22:03

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President George W. Bush signed a 15-day extension of a surveillance law on Thursday after he failed to have Congress make it permanent.

"I will sign the extension, but I expect members of both political parties to get this work done so our professionals can protect the American people," Bush said before signing the law.

The law, the Protect American Act, is set to expire on Jan. 31.

In August, Congress hastily approved at request of Bush's administration the law, or an update to the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to allow the government temporarily having more power to intercept foreign communications without a court order even involving Americans.

However, Bush still asked Congress to make the Protect American Act a permanent and expanded law before it is expired in six months, but was opposed by many Democrats, who hope to change the law to provide additional oversight when the authorities eavesdrops on U.S. citizens communicating with foreign parties.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed earlier this month to extend the Protect America Act without expanding it, but was blocked by Senate Republicans.

The core of the controversy is whether the wireless surveillance program violated provisions of the original FISA law that requires warrants for wiretaps whenever one of the parties involved in the communication resides in the United States.

U.S. Congress endorses extension of surveillance law

www.chinaview.cn 2008-01-30 12:55:38

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Congress passed on Tuesday a two-week extension of an anti-terror surveillance law set to expire later this week.

The Senate is also expected to consider extending the surveillance law by two weeks, although Senators voted down a 30-day extension on Monday.

Senate Republican leaders have said they would agree to an extension if the Senate can pass new surveillance legislation this week, including giving retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that allowed the government to wiretap their customers without court permission.

The White House has urged lawmakers to move quickly to send President George W. Bush a bill that would replace the surveillance law due to expire on Friday.

"We will accommodate this request so that Congress can live up to its commitment to passing a bill that gives the intelligence community the tools they need to protect the nation," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

Bush and Republicans have called for the passage of a bill to replace the expiring surveillance law, which was adopted last August and expanded the power of U.S. authorities to track suspected enemy targets without a court order.

However, some Democrats in the Senate have called for amendments to the law to limit or eliminate the legal immunity.

Editor: Yao Siyan

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