Congress Makes A Deal On Wiretapping

The House is ready to vote on a newly revised surveillance law, following much debate among leaders of Congress in which both parties made concessions. The compromise, which is expected to pass both chambers of Congress, is considered a victory for the White House, particularly for giving legal immunity to telecommunications companies that helped facilitate government eavesdropping without warrants after September 11th. The new bill would require the government to obtain court authorization - a necessary check seen by Democrats to avoid abuse of executive power - but would also allow intelligence officials to conduct emergency wiretaps without a court order and to use broad warrants for eavesdropping on foreign targets. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation next week.

Nearly nine in ten Americans say "improving the effectiveness of our intelligence operations" would enhance our national security, with 57 percent saying it would help "a great deal," according to the spring edition of our Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index. The public is divided, however, on the subject of surveillance. Fifty-two percent favor allowing law enforcement officials to wiretap phones of suspected terrorists without obtaining court permission. E-mail is another matter: 52 percent oppose interception of e-mail messages sent by anyone in the U.S.