JURIST - Paper Chase: Domestic surveillance bill stalls in Congress

[JURIST] There are too many substantive differences between the Senate and House versions of a bill aimed at approving the NSA domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive] for legislation to be approved before the November elections, anonymous GOP staffers told reporters Tuesday. The Senate version, the National Security Surveillance Act of 2006 [S 3876 materials], the product of a compromise between the White House and Senator Arlen Specter [JURIST report], places fewer restrictions on presidential authority to conduct wiretaps than the House version [JURIST report], the Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act of 2006 [HR 5825 summary], sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM).

President Bush pressed for passage of the surveillance legislation in a press conference [JURIST report] earlier this month, saying "when an al Qaeda operative is calling into the United States or out of the country, we need to know who they're calling, why they're calling, and what they're planning." AP has more.

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