Lawmakers tackling domestic spy program fix

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers hoping to adjourn on Friday for a monthlong recess struggled to amend the government's domestic spying program in way acceptable to President George W. Bush.

But a last-minute push to expand the government's anti-terrorism powers to eavesdrop on telephone calls and e-mail from abroad was in doubt as Democrats worked for a compromise on narrowly tailored legislation.

Bush, who has pressed for action this week, urged lawmakers to stay on until they produce legislation that closes what he called "an intelligence gap in the (1978) Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)."

"So far the Democrats have not drafted a bill I can sign," he said at FBI headquarters. "Time is short and I ask Congress to stay in session until they pass a bill that will give our intelligence community the tools they need."

Lawmakers were working to revamp a law that requires warrants for the monitoring of communications by people inside the United States. Congressional aides said the effort was prompted in part by a secret court's new restrictions on the ability of U.S. spy agencies to intercept telephone calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists overseas.

The issue has been complicated by a dispute over Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' truthfulness in testimony about U.S. spy programs.

The administration has proposed giving Gonzales authority to authorize the surveillance, raising concerns of Democrats as well as some of Gonzales' fellow Republicans.

"We need to wiretap terrorists, and we should address the problem that has been identified with FISA with respect to foreign-to-foreign communications," said Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat.