Bush-backed spying bill clears US senate panel

WASHINGTON - A bill backed by President George W Bush to enable a court review of his domestic spying programme won the approval on Wednesday of a US Senate panel under election-year pressure to safeguard civil liberties.

Bush's Republicans hailed the measure and brushed off Democratic complaints that it could actually further undermine the rights of law-abiding Americans because of what they called loopholes that would expand presidential powers.

The bill would clear the way for a secret court created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to examine the legality of the warrantless surveillance programme the White House launched after the September 11 attacks.

On a party-line vote of 10-8, the Republican-led panel sent the bill to the full Senate for an uncertain fate ahead of Nov. 7 congressional elections.

Republicans hold 55 of 100 Senate seats. But they would need 60 votes if Democrats try to raise a procedural hurdle.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush directed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on international phone calls and emails of US citizens without obtaining a warrant when in pursuit of suspected terrorists.

A federal judge in Detroit ruled the programme illegal. Bush has appealed. The case is expected to end up in the Supreme Court.

Democrats and some Republicans said the programme overstepped presidential authority and may even violate the 1978 act which requires warrants for individual eavesdropping suspects inside the United States.

Bush countered his powers were inherent in time of war.

The House of Representatives has been struggling to craft and win passage of a measure of its own. Republicans control both houses of Congress.

"My search has been to find a way to have a judicial review," said Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican senator who drafted the bill with the White House. "If someone has a better idea, I'm open to it."

Specter's bill would permit but not mandate a FISA court review. Critics charge it would also expand Bush's powers to eavesdrop. They said the FISA court would review the entire programme at once rather than individual wiretaps, which could continue without warrants.

"This bill is all about authorizing the president to invade homes, emails and telephone conversations of American citizens in ways that are expressly forbidden by law," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

The committee also approved two other NSA bills, also on 10-8 votes. But neither have White House support and, a senior aide said, may not even be brought up for a Senate vote.

Specter and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, joined the eight committee Democrats to pass a measure that would reaffirm that FISA is the exclusive means by which the government can conduct electronic surveillance of Americans on US soil for foreign intelligence.

With the support of only the panel's 10 Republicans, the committee approved a bill that would require a warrant on wiretaps beyond 45 days unless the administration certifies one could not be obtained and that surveillance must continue.

- REUTERS