House passes surveillance bill without immunity

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would re-authorize U.S. government antiterrorist surveillance programs but would not grant immunity from lawsuits to telecom providers that have participated with surveillance programs in the past.

An amended version of the House bill, called the Restore Act, would require prior court approval of surveillance of U.S. residents talking to overseas suspects. The House passed the bill by a margin of less than 20 votes on Friday.

President George Bush has called on Congress to re-authorize the surveillance program and give telecom providers retroactive immunity to lawsuits for participating in a U.S. National Security Agency program that conducted surveillance without court warrants. AT&T and other providers are facing several lawsuits for their role in the NSA program, and Bush has said he'll veto any bill that doesn't include telecom immunity.

Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have pushed for telecom immunity in recent speeches. "Some [telecom] providers are facing dozens of lawsuits right now," Cheney said in January. "Why? Because they are believed to have aided the U.S. government in the effort to intercept international communications of al Qaeda-related individuals."

The House vote on Friday puts it at odds with the Senate, which passed a surveillance extension bill with telecom immunity last month. House and Senate negotiators will now have to iron out the differences between the bills.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, a group promoting privacy and online civil liberties, praised the House for passing the amended Restore Act. "CDT urges the Senate to adopt the bill's provisions protecting privacy and promoting accountability," the group said.