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    Senate Rejects Secret Court Measure
    By Pamela Hess
    The Associated Press

    Thursday 24 January 2008

    Washington - The Senate on Thursday rejected an attempt to expand a secret court's oversight of government eavesdropping, sticking instead with a surveillance bill favored by the White House.

    The bill, which failed 60-36, would have strengthened the oversight powers of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It would have given the court the authority to monitor and enforce how the government protects the identities of innocent Americans whose communications may be inadvertently collected.

    The Senate is grappling with a bill written by the Senate Intelligence Committee to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The law, first enacted in 1978, dictates when federal agents must obtain court permission before tapping phone and computer lines inside the United States to gather intelligence on foreign threats. Agents may tap lines outside the country without court oversight.

    This is the second time the Senate has taken up the FISA modernization bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., abruptly closed debate in December when it became clear the Senate couldn't finish work before the holiday break.