Bush pushes lawmakers to act on spying bill

With only a few days left before a month-long congressional recess, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are busy trying to reach agreement on a proposal that would amend the government's authority to spy on telephone calls and e-mails.

Congressional leaders had breakfast at the White House on Wednesday, where they talked with President Bush about potential changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Bush administration is pushing lawmakers to act fast to broaden the law, which requires warrants for monitoring citizens' domestic communications in anti-terrorism probes.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he is working closely with Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and top administration officials to "craft a temporary legislative fix" for the 30-year-old intelligence law.

Democrats have proposed a six-month solution before Congress adjourns, with the expectation that the Intelligence and Judiciary committees will work together on long-term modernization when Congress returns in September.

In a statement, Rockefeller said he is "convinced that we must take some immediate but interim step to improve collection of foreign intelligence in a manner that doesn't compromise civil liberties of U.S. citizens."

The White House's recent proposal would grant the U.S. attorney general sole authority to direct surveillance while completely removing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from the process. "That is simply unacceptable," Rockefeller said.

The Democratic plan would maintain the secret court's current role while giving it new authority for court orders that cover certain foreign transmissions. It also would preserve the court's ability to force telecommunications firms to comply with spying requests.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell received the proposal Tuesday. Reyes said he anticipates the House will pass the bill before leaving at the end of the week for its August break.

"Everything that was an issue has been resolved," he said. The legislation addresses the "urgent needs" raised by McConnell in a July 27 letter to House and Senate leaders.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promised a bill would move, though she did not guarantee it would be legislation Bush would sign.

Republicans continued to press Democrats to act. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the House should not leave "until this issue is dealt with." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., added: "This job better get done."

But the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday urged Congress to resist administration attempts to rush through changes before recess. "This isn't a quick fix, it's a complete overhaul," said Anthony Romero, the group's executive director.

The Center for Democracy and Technology joined him in warning that the administration's latest bid "goes far beyond the president's terrorist surveillance program."

"If the administration is objecting to giving the FISA court new authority covering aggregated foreign collection, it's being unreasonable," said Gregory Nojeim, CDT's senior counsel. "That foreign collection often involves communications of U.S. persons, the privacy of which must be protected."

Chris Strohm contributed to this report.