House to vote on eavesdropping bill

By PAMELA HESS

WASHINGTON - House Democrats are hoping changes they made to a bill to expand court oversight of government surveillance inside the United States will find enough to support to win passage on a second try.

A vote was expected Thursday on the second attempt in a month to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which dictates when the government must obtain court permission to carry out electronic eavesdropping. Last month House Republicans used a procedural maneuver to force the withdrawal of a similar bill just before a vote.

Democratic aides think the small changes they made in the bill since then will garner majority approval and protect the bill from a similar fate.

The Democratic bill lacks one key feature President Bush is insisting on: legal immunity for telecommunications companies alleged to have secretly helped the government monitor Americans' phone calls and e-mails without court permission. About 40 civil lawsuits have been filed against telecom companies, alleging they broke wiretapping and privacy laws, and the White House has threatened to veto any surveillance bill that does not protect the companies. The White House contends lawsuits could bankrupt the companies and reveal classified information.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_go_co/terrorist_surveillance