Much is being made of the word choice of U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D.-Tex.) as he was interviewed on CNN this weekend. Reyes said the committee had been talking to telcos "because if we're going to give them blanket immunity, we want to know and understand what it is we're giving immunity for."
That may or may not indicate that the House is actually moving toward new surveillance legislation with telco immunity included, but The New York Times and at least a couple of bloggers believe that it does mean a law with telco immunity will soon come to a vote. President Bush has continued to elevate his rhetoric on the issue, but prior to this CNN interview, it didn't seem like many House Democrats were willing to budge.
For more:
- read this report at The New York Times
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- We predicted a compromise on this issue, but not this kind of compromise