Wiretap bill winds through Senate panels: Possible vote this week on House version

Parent companies of the two largest mobile-phone carriers continue to face an uphill battle to gain congressional immunity from the proliferation of privacy lawsuits in connection with the Bush administration’s domestic wiretapping program, begun shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The White House and telecom industry appeared to have made a breakthrough after the Senate Intelligence Committee’s recent vote to give telecom firms retroactive liability protection as part of bill to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
“Through our legislation we have taken important steps to restore and expand critical FISA Court review of surveillance programs,” stated Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). “We also recognize that private companies who received legal assurances from the highest levels of government should not be dragged through the courts for their help with national security. The onus is on the administration, not the companies, to ensure that the request is on strong legal footing, and if it is not, it is the administration that should be held accountable.”
Not all Democrats agreed.
“The bill still cedes far too much power to the executive branch, which has time and again shown it will only abuse it. And I am deeply disappointed that it included retroactive immunity for anyone alleged to have cooperated with the administration’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program,” said Sen. Russ Feingold (DWis.). “I hope the bill will be further improved in the Judiciary Committee before it reaches the full Senate. If the bill that ultimately reaches the Senate floor includes immunity and does not adequately protect the privacy of Americans, I will fight it vigorously with every tool at my disposal.”
Controversy quickly followed after it was revealed the White House gave the intelligence panel key documents unsuccessfully sought for months by the Senate Judiciary Committee. That prompted committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) to fire off an angry letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding over why documents subpoenaed by the committee in June have yet to be delivered.
“Instead, we read that a White House spokesperson has now conditioned the production of information on prior Senate agreement to provide retroactive immunity from liability for communications carriers. That is unacceptable and would turn the legislative process upside down,” Leahy and Specter wrote.
The House is pursuing a FISA reform bill, but the measure does not contain a liability provision for telecom carriers like AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. The bill was abruptly pulled from a scheduled House vote two weeks ago, but a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said a vote is possible this week.
The House Commerce Committee is investigating the level of participation by AT&T, Verizon and Qwest in the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping program, and has received feedback from the three companies and privacy groups.
Even if the Democratic-controlled Congress can pass a FISA reform bill, telecom carriers are not necessarily home free. The White House said it will veto the House measure because it lacks telecom liability protection and includes various provisions it opposes.