On Capitol Hill, the Senate is preparing to vote on rewriting the nation’s surveillance laws and giving immunity to phone companies involved in President Bush’s secret domestic surveillance program. On Friday, the Democratic-controlled House approved the measure by a vote of 293-129. The American Civil Liberties Union warned the bill would allow for the mass, untargeted and unwarranted surveillance of all communications coming into and out of the United States.
President Bush thanked Congress for moving forward on the legislation.

President Bush: “My Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General tells me that this is a good bill. It will help our intelligence professionals learn our enemies’ plans for new attacks. It ensures that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the country will themselves be protected from liability for past or future cooperation with the government.”

Senator Barack Obama said he supports the so-called compromise bill, but he vowed to work in the Senate to remove the telecom immunity provision. In a statement, Obama said, “Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise…” Last year Obama had vowed to support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.