« FOIA Backlog Down, But Agencies Missed Opportunity for Major Breakthrough | Main | White House Threatens to Veto Bill to Modernize Presidential Records Act »

Senate Approves Bill to Broaden Wiretap Powers

From the New York Times:

The Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a major expansion of the government’s surveillance powers, handing President Bush one more victory in a series of hard-fought clashes with Democrats over national security issues.

The measure, approved by a vote of 69 to 28, is the biggest revamping of federal surveillance law in 30 years. It includes a divisive element that Mr. Bush had deemed essential: legal immunity for the phone companies that cooperated in the National Security Agency wiretapping program he approved after the Sept. 11 attacks.