U S spying bill revised, impact debated

WASHINGTON, Sep 26 (Reuters) Civil liberties would be better protected under a change made to legislation to codify US President George W Bush's anti-terror domestic spying program, a chief backer of the effort said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said yesterday the bill had been revised to require that electronic surveillance of telephone calls that originate in the United States be subjected to individual court warrants.

Administration aides said individual warrants would eventually be used, but only when practical.

With Republicans and Democrats bickering about who can best defend America, Specter told the National Press Club he hopes Congress will pass the bill before lawmakers head home at the end of this week to campaign for the November 7 congressional elections.

But three Democrats, led by Assistant Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin of Illinois, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, complained that the bill could still end up expanding presidential powers and threatening civil liberties.

Bush's Republican Party controls the Senate and House of Representatives, which is working on its own version of the legislation.

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Bush ordered the National Security Agency to monitor the international telephone conversations of US citizens without court warrants while in pursuit of suspected terrorists -- regardless if calls began in the United States or overseas.

Critics charge that Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which requires warrants for all electronic eavesdropping inside the United States.

Bush disagrees, insisting he has inherent powers to do so.

A federal judge recently declared the program illegal; Bush appealed.

Specter said, ''Change has been made (in the bill) to require that calls originating in the United States be subjected to individualized warrants.'' Three other Republican senators -- John Sununu of New Hampshire, Larry Craig of Idaho and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska -- announced an accord of their own with the White House.

They said the administration had agreed to drop provisions in the bill that raised questions about the role of Congress and the executive branch in regulating surveillance.

''We are united in our support to provide law enforcement and the intelligence community the tools necessary to combat terrorism,'' the three said in a statement. ''We must do so, however, in a way that protects the rights afforded to citizens in the Constitution.'' Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, said, ''The president has said that any acceptable legislation would provide additional authority for the Terrorist Surveillance Program.'' ''TSP does allow for the interception without court order of international communications where one end is within the United States -- and this agreement would provide this additional authority, and would establish a process for moving to individualized court orders with respect to individuals in the United States,'' Roehrkasse said.

REUTERS PB RN0911