AP readies pen; Relishes Bush boy's "victory" over wiretap bill

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorist_surveillance


Bush readies pen; Relishes signing wiretap bill

2 hours, 25 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush is poised to sign a bill that overhauls the bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and grants immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the U.S. spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases.
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The Senate sent the measure to the president on Wednesday and he is to sign it in a Rose Garden ceremony Thursday afternoon.

The bill was a victory for Bush. Its approval came only after a lengthy and heated debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks. It ended almost a year of wrangling in the Democratic-led Congress over surveillance rules and the president's warrantless wiretapping program initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"It ended almost a year of wrangling in the Democratic-led Congress over surveillance rules and the president's warrantless wiretapping program initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."