US Congress extends foreign surveillance law
December 29, 2012 00:58
The Senate gave final congressional approval today to a bill renewing the US government's authority to monitor overseas phone calls and emails of suspected foreign spies and terrorists but not Americans without obtaining a court order for each intercept.
The classified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act programme was on the brink of expiring by year's end. The 73-23 vote sent the bill to a supportive President Barack Obama, whose signature would keep the warrantless intercept programme in operation for another five years.
The Senate majority rejected arguments from an unusual combination of Democratic liberals and ideological Republican conservatives, who sought to amend the bill to require the government to reveal statistics showing whether any Americans were swept up in the foreign intercepts. The attempt lost, with 52 votes against and 43 in favour.
The Obama administration's intelligence community and leaders of the Senate's intelligence committee said the information should be classified and opposed the disclosure, repeating that it is illegal to target Americans without an order from a special US surveillance court.
TOP STORIES
© 2024 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances