White House Pushes for Immunity for Phone Companies in Surveillance Program
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
REBECCA CARR
November 15, 2006
Washington --- The Bush administration has quietly worked to secure liability protection for telephone companies that have provided information for its domestic wiretapping program.
The House version of a bill authorizing the eavesdropping program was adopted in late September and contains an immunity provision for "private sector entities" that participate in the program.
There were other attempts to attach the immunity provision to other bills before Congress recessed for the midterm elections last month.
The American Civil Liberties Union estimates that immunity would protect the telephone companies from $15 billion in estimated civil suit damages if the provision also passes the Senate.
The role of major phone companies --- notably AT&T --- in allegedly helping the National Security Agency program received much attention earlier this year. USA Today stoked interest in the issue after reporting the government had assembled a giant database of domestic phone records.
The initial report named Atlanta-based BellSouth, but USA Today later backed off on that claim.
Most companies declined to comment on the record about the legislative effort. BellSouth said it has never participated in the NSA program so would not advocate for the protection from liability. "As far as BellSouth, it is a moot point because we haven't had any contact with the NSA," said spokesman Jeff Battcher.
BellSouth, however, is in the process of being acquired by Texas-based AT&T.
ACLU Director Caroline Fredrickson vowed to fight any liability protection for the industry during the final weeks of the Republican-controlled Congress, as well as when Democrats take over Congress in January.
Historically, the session at the end of a Congress is filled with last-minute deals and funding allocations to special interest groups tucked away in remaining appropriations bills.
Congress has approved targeted liability protection in the past, but no legal expert could recollect granting immunity to an industry that may have assisted in violating the 4th Amendment protection against surveillance without a court-approved warrant.
But Bush has also made clear his intention to persuade Congress to pass legislation backing the surveillance program that he authorized immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
In a statement of administration policy issued Sept. 28, the White House said it strongly supports prompt enactment of legislation that would provide additional authority for the program and "protect cooperating private-sector entities and U.S. personnel from liability as they carry out authorized and lawful U.S. communications intelligence activities to protect against terrorism."
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Commerce Committee, supports granting such protection.
"We must know about a terrorist plot in order to stop it, and the only way to know is to listen in on those who are planning the attacks," said Stevens in a statement.
Recent reports revealing details about 30 new plots by more than 200 different terrorist cells is evidence of why such protection is warranted, Stevens said. "The reason the plots became public is because British authorities are monitoring terrorist communications," he said.
"If we expect U.S. communications companies to cooperate with U.S. intelligence on authorized, lawful intelligence programs, we can't subject them to harassing lawsuits," Stevens said. But the White House will face strong opposition come January.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said giving the telecommunications industry immunity would be a "dangerous proposition."
"These companies may have violated the privacy rights of millions of Americans," Leahy said. "Immunity as a general rule in any industry can be a dangerous proposition for it promotes less accountability."