<![CDATA[Senate Passes FISA Bill, Gives Telecoms Immunity]]>

1.0 link 111709 <![CDATA[Senate Passes FISA Bill, Gives Telecoms Immunity]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/09/compromise-fisa-bill-pass_n_111709.html Bowing to President Bush's demands, the Senate sent the White House a bill Wednesday overhauling bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and shielding telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans.

The relatively one-sided vote, 69-28, came only after a lengthy and heated debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks. It ended almost a year of wrangling over surveillance rules and the president's warrantless wiretapping program that was...

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