House OKs bill defying Bush on eavesdropping

WASHINGTON — A deeply divided House approved its latest version of terrorist surveillance legislation on Friday, rebuffing President Bush's demand for a bill that would grant telecommunications firms retroactive immunity for their cooperation in past warrantless wiretapping and deepening an impasse on a fundamental national security issue.

Congress then defiantly left Washington for a two-week spring break.

The legislation, approved 213-197, would update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to expand the powers of intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on terrorism and spying suspects and keep pace with ever-changing communications technologies.

Washington state's delegation voted along party lines, with Democrats voting yes and Republicans voting no.

The legislation would challenge the Bush administration on a number of fronts, by requiring prior court approval of most wiretaps, authorizing federal inspectors general to investigate the administration's warrantless surveillance efforts, and establishing a bipartisan commission to examine the activities of intelligence agencies in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Most provocatively, the House legislation offers no legal immunity for past actions by phone companies that participated in warrantless wiretapping and are now facing about 40 lawsuits that allege they breached customers' privacy rights.

Instead of granting the firms immunity, as the Senate bill would, the measure would send the issue to a secure federal court and give the companies the right to argue their case using information the administration has deemed to be state secrets.

The House's action ensures that Bush will not receive any surveillance legislation for weeks — if ever.

Lawmakers from both parties said the gulf between the administration and House Democratic leaders is now so wide that the issue may not be resolved until a new president takes office next year.

Bush appeared on the White House's South Lawn Thursday to demand House passage of the Senate legislation, warning lawmakers: "The American people understand the stakes in this struggle. They want their children to be safe from terror."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., responded by all but calling Bush a liar.

"We understand our responsibility to protect the American people. What the president is trying to do is something that we think should be stopped," she said. "I am stating a fact. The president is wrong, and he knows it."

Republicans maintain that telecommunications firms must be granted strong, retroactive legal protections to guarantee their ongoing cooperation with intelligence efforts.

They say the House legislation would add onerous levels of bureaucracy to wiretapping efforts that require split-second responses.

Democrats counter that they cannot offer immunity without knowing precisely what actions they would be forgiving. By proposing to turn over the issue to the courts, they said, they have compromised with the White House. They contend that their legislation would grant Bush all the authority he needs to conduct surveillance.