The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits over their cooperation with government surveillance without court permission. In a 31 to 67 vote, the body rejected an attempt to strip the companies of retroactive immunity for their role in helping the U.S. government carry out surveillance. At present, a variety of companies have been named in around 40 lawsuits that allege their cooperation violated wiretapping and privacy laws. But President George W. Bush has said the companies helped the government carry out crucial work to protect against terror attacks. He promised to veto the bill if it did not include the protection. The vote today was on part of a larger bill that will replace a soon-to-expire, hastily passed update to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a law written in response to government abuse of its surveillance authority against Americans. The most recent update to the Act expires on February 15 and Congress is attempting to pass the new bill before then. Separately Tuesday, the Senate voted to expand the power of a secret court that oversees government surveillance of Americans. The amendment would give the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court the authority to monitor government compliance with procedures to protect privacy.
