WASHINGTON (AP) -- House doors were locked Thursday night as lawmakers prepared for their first closed session in 25 years to debate surveillance legislation.
Republicans requested privacy for what they termed "an honest debate'' on the new Democratic eavesdropping bill that is opposed by the White House and most Republicans in Congress.
The private session was scheduled for nighttime so the House chamber could be swept by security personnel to make sure there were no listening or recording devices.
The last such session in the House was in 1983 on U.S. support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua. Only five closed sessions have taken place in the House since 1825.
Many Democrats initially objected, calling it a political ploy by Republicans to delay the vote. Indeed, it did: House leaders pushed off the scheduled vote until Friday, just before taking a two-week recess. If passed, the bill would have to be approved by the Senate.
President Bush vowed to veto the House Democrats' version of the terrorist surveillance bill, saying it would undermine the nation's security.
Indeed, this is the House that the democrats elected into power. Y'all proud of this?
Like the dark of night Patriot Act; We are not a democracy when our leaders decide for us in secret.
Also see,
NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data
NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data
Terror Fight Blurs Line Over Domain Tracking Email
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
March 10, 2008; Page A1
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns. Opponents called it too broad an intrusion on Americans' privacy, even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
But the data-sifting effort didn't disappear. The National Security Agency, once confined to foreign surveillance, has been building essentially the same system.
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