U.S. President George W. Bush won on Wednesday a bill to provide legal immunity to telecommunication companies that help in the government surveillance program.
Bush said that he would soon sign the bill into law, a "vital intelligence bill that will allow our national security professionals to quickly and effectively monitor the plans of terrorists outside the United States, while respecting the liberties of the American people."
Months of impasse for the U.S. surveillance program, which was considered key to the country's anti-terror war, was concluded as the Senate passed the bill, by voting 69 to 28, that would shield telecommunications companies help with the program from potentially billions of dollars in damages from privacy lawsuits.
The passage of the bill is also seen as the biggest overhaul of U.S. spy laws in three decades. It has been approved by the House of Representatives last month, and would be sent to President Bush to sign into law.
Senator Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, hailed the passage of the bill, saying it "will keep us safe and protect our liberties," and the Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, viewed it "a capitulation" not "a compromise."
Last August, Congress hastily approved at request of Bush's administration the law, or an update to the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to allow the government temporarily having more power to intercept foreign communications without a court order even involving Americans.
However, Bush still asked Congress to make the Protect American Act a permanent and expanded law before it is expired on Jan. 31, but was opposed by many Democrats, who hoped to change the law to provide additional oversight when the authorities eavesdrops on U.S. citizens communicating with foreign parties.
If signed into law, it would bolster judicial and congressional oversight of U.S. surveillance of foreign targets and increase protection of civil liberties of law-abiding Americans.
Bush and his cabinet have repeatedly demanded the passage of the bill to allow intelligence officials to have tools they need to detect terrorist plots and connection.
"This legislation is critical to America's safety; it is long overdue," he said shortly after returning from Japan, where he attended G8 summit. "This bill will help our intelligence professionals learn who the terrorists are talking to, what they're saying, and what they're planning."
"It will ensure that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the country will, themselves, be protected from lawsuits for past or future cooperation with the government," he added.
However, human rights activists criticized the bill for greenlighting warrantless surveillance of the phone calls and e-mails of Americans who communicate with them.
Source:Xinhua
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