WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter Thursday announced a deal with the White House on the National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program.
Specter, R-Penn., chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate, said the White House would submit the Terrorist Surveillance Program to the Foreign Surveillance Advisory Court for a one-time review, if a bill Specter has sponsored outlining the agreement is approved largely unchanged by the U.S. Congress.
The New York Times revealed the Terrorist Surveillance Program in December, to the surprise of Congress which had not been apprised of it. The Times revealed that the National Security Agency has been eavesdropping on communications it says are between al-Qaida associates, including communications that involve U.S. citizens.
The government is expressly forbidden from eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without a warrant granted by the FSAC. The law currently allows a three-day grace period so the government can wiretap a time-critical suspect and get the warrant approved later.
The Specter agreement extends the FISA grace-period to seven days. However, it does not require the government to get warrants for each individual case it wants to pursue under the Terrorist Surveillance Program.
The agreement also allows for roving wiretaps -- that is, tapping an individual uses rather than a specific phone or computer line.
The Bush administration has argued that Congress authorization for the use of military force approved after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks provided an implicit blanket exemption from the law requiring court approval.
The compromise was reached with the White House at 10 pm Tuesday after a month of concerted negotiations, Specter said.
"It's an acknowledgement to the president that he can fight terrorism and still have the court review his program. And I think it allays a lot of concerns," Specter said.
