Democrats defy Bush, approve spy bill

By Thomas Ferraro and Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In defiance of U.S. President George W. Bush, Democrats on Wednesday voted to bolster civil-liberty safeguards in his anti-terror spying program and refused to shield phone companies from pending lawsuits.

Just hours after Bush warned Democrats they would be rolling back efforts to protect against another Sept. 11-type attack, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved legislation to ensure congressional and secret-court oversight of the surveillance of enemy targets. The vote was 20-14.

The measure would require the administration to obtain one-year "blanket warrants" from the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor telephone calls or e-mails of suspected terrorists when they involve a U.S. citizen.

It would not require individual warrants to listen in on Americans communicating with terrorists, unless the U.S. citizen is also a specific target of the surveillance. No warrant would be needed to monitor foreign suspects speaking to each other overseas.

"The legislation before us today seeks to once again strike the appropriate balance between needed government authority and our precious rights and liberties," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat.

Pending consideration of the bill by the House Intelligence Committee, which worked on it behind closed doors, Democrats hope to get it before the full House for passage next week. The Senate Intelligence Committee is working on its own measure.

Shortly before the Judiciary Committee vote, Bush appeared at the White House to voice concerns about the bill. It would revise a temporary measure he pushed through Congress in August.

That measure, "The Protect America Act" expanded the power of U.S. authorities to conduct warrantless surveillance and closed what the administration said was a dangerous legal gap in its authority.