US Senate approves wire-tapping bill

The US Senate approved a bill overhauling domestic eavesdropping laws on Wednesday, ending more than two years of wrangling over President George W. Bush’s terrorist surveillance programme.

The legislation provides the government with sweeping new powers to monitor communications involving suspected terrorists and gives legal immunity to telecommunications companies that co-operated with secret wiretapping after the September 2001 attacks.

Mr Bush said the measures would make it easier for his administration and future presidents to keep America safe. ”This bill will help our intelligence professionals learn who the terrorists are talking to, what they’re saying, and what they’re planning,” he said.

Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, was among the 69-28 bipartisan majority that backed the proposals, reversing his opposition to earlier versions of the bill as part of his gradual shift towards the political centre.

His switch appeared designed to neutralise Republican efforts to portray him as weak on national security. But it sparked anger among many of his liberal supporters who say the bill conceded too much ground to the Bush administration and rode roughshod over civil liberties.

Christopher Bond, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there was nothing to fear in the bill ”unless you have al-Qaeda on your speed dial”.

Hillary Clinton, Mr Obama’s former presidential rival, was among several senior Democrats who voted against the legislation. Opposition was focused on the measure to shield companies such as AT&T and Verizon from lawsuits over their role in secret government wire-tapping after the 9/11 attacks. Mr Bush threatened to veto any bill that failed to protect the industry.

Mr Obama had previously voiced opposition to “telecom immunity” but said the overall package was an improvement on past versions. A spokesman for John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, said Mr Obama’s U-turn showed he was willing to ”break campaign commitments and undermine his own words in his quest for higher office”.

The legislation, the result of months of negotiation between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, will tighten some rules governing domestic surveillance but loosen others.

For almost six years after the 9/11 attacks, the National Security Agency conducted secret wire-tapping of US phone lines without court approval, until the practice was stopped after its exposure by The New York Times. The programme became a focus of Democratic complaints about alleged abuses of power by the Bush administration.

The new legislation will force the government to seek court approval for all domestic wire-tapping but allow for sweeping year-long warrants.

The Bush administration says the new rules are urgently needed not only to track potential threats within the US but also to monitor overseas terrorist suspects whose phone calls and e-mails are often routed through US networks.

The legislation has already cleared the House of Representatives and Mr Bush said he would quickly sign it into law.

Mr Obama explained his backing for the bill in a posting on his website this week after supporters deluged the site with protests. He said the compromise was strong enough to prevent a repeat of warrantless wire-tapping but acknowledged the legislation was “far from perfect”.