After Veto Threat, Bush Presses House On Surveillance Bill

"The time for debate is over," announced President Bush after threatening last week to the House of Representatives with a veto to any surveillance bill that prevents intelligence agencies from doing their jobs. President Bush stepped up pressure on the House to pass new rules for monitoring terrorists communications in a measure that passed the Senate on Tuesday. President Bush said, "terrorists are planning new attacks on our country … that will make Sept. 11 pale by comparison."

The Surveillance Bill will give telecommunications companies retroactive immunity from privacy lawsuits so long as they cooperate with providing intelligence agencies the ability to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mails between suspected terrorists. "We need the cooperation of telecommunications companies," Bush said. "If these companies are subjected to lawsuits costing billions of dollars, they won’t participate, they won’t help us."