Bush, Democrats struggle for spy deal

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - House Democrats said Friday that negotiations had broken down over giving intelligence agents broader powers to eavesdrop on suspected foreign terrorists, but Bush administration officials insisted talks were still under way.

Senate Democrats hoped to hold votes Friday night on the legislation to update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to make it easier for intelligence agents to tap into overseas phone calls and Internet message of suspected terrorists.

"We're still hopeful that something can be worked out," said Ellen Cioccio, a spokeswoman for Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. "They're still talking."

House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes said talks were at a standstill after the White House reneged on an earlier offer accepted by Democrats.

Asked if the negotiations were still ongoing, Reyes said: "No."

Reyes, D-Texas, said Democrats had agreed to three points that McConnell said the Bush administration needed.

"The DNI subsequently sent us a rewritten piece of legislation that was about 80 percent different," Reyes said.

House Democrats moved toward a vote on a bill they wrote with much less generous powers than Bush wanted. But to rush that legislation through with little debate, they needed a two-thirds majority and weren't expected to get it.

President Bush earlier Friday implored lawmakers to update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before leaving Washington for a monthlong summer break — a potentially vulnerable time for attacks because of the high-travel season.

The president threatened to veto any bill by the Democratic-led Congress that his intelligence director deemed unable "to prevent an attack on the country."

"We've worked hard and in good faith with the Democrats to find a solution, but we are not going to put our national security at risk," Bush said after meeting with counterterror and homeland security officials at FBI headquarters. "Time is short."

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorism_surveillance [link]