House GOP Leaders Fight Wiretapping Limits

HOUSE GOP LEADERS FIGHT WIRETAPPING LIMITS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jonathan Weisman]
House leaders moved yesterday to temper many of the controls that a bill headed toward rapid passage would have imposed on the Bush administration's program for wiretapping terrorism suspects without court approval. The bill, set for Judiciary Committee consideration today, would have forced the administration to seek a warrant for surveillance within 60 days and bolstered consultations with Congress on the program. But last-minute changes pushed by senior Republicans may allow warrantless surveillance to largely continue without those controls. Instead, House Republican leaders brought their bill in line with legislation agreed to by the White House and the Senate, which would allow but not require the administration to submit the program to a secret court for a constitutional review. Republican leaders, in the midst of an increasingly angry attack on Democrats over defense matters, made it clear that they will not challenge President Bush's authority in matters of national security as they challenge their opponents' commitment to fighting terrorism. The move put House GOP leaders at odds with some Republican moderates and civil libertarians in the House and the Senate, who have pledged to assert Congress's authority over the wiretapping program. The legislation's chief author, Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM), made it clear that she will stand by the original bill's system of checks when the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence takes it up tomorrow.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR200609...
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