House OKs Expanded Wiretap Program

HOUSE OKs EXPANDED WIRETAP PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Richard B. Schmitt]
The House voted late Thursday to rewrite the nation's domestic wiretap laws, giving President Bush new power to monitor the e-mail and phone records of U.S. citizens during terrorism investigations without having to obtain court approval. But lawmakers were unlikely to deliver final legislation to the White House before leaving this weekend for the election campaign, a setback for the administration, which has made national security a pillar of its strategy to maintain Republican control of Congress. The House measure would endorse the once-secret program Bush launched after Sept. 11, authorizing the National Security Agency to monitor international communications between terrorism suspects and people in the U.S. without first obtaining warrants. It would also set new rules for warrantless surveillance during emergencies and give Congress a bigger role in monitoring the surveillance. The measure was approved, 232 to 191, with 18 Democrats supporting it. Thirteen Republicans opposed the bill.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-wiretap29sep29,1...
(requires registration)

* HOUSE POISED TO PASS WORST VERSION OF WILSON NSA BILL
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy & Technology]
The full House of Representatives appears poised to vote on a version of the Wilson wiretapping bill (H.R. 5825) that includes the worst elements of earlier versions of the bill approved by the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. CDT opposes this bill and its counterpart in the Senate, the Specter-Cheney bill. September 28, 2006
New CDT Analysis: Wilson Bill: http://www.cdt.org/security/20060928analysis.pdf
Group Letter Opposing Latest Version of Wilson Bill: http://www.cdt.org/security/20060928wilsonletter.pdf