JUne 20, 2008— -- House and Senate leaders have agreed to acompromise surveillance bill that would effectively shield fromcivil lawsuits the telecommunications companies that helped thegovernment wiretap phone and computer lines after the Sept. 11terrorist attacks without court permission.

The House was expected to pass the bill Friday, potentiallyending a monthslong standoff about the rules for governmentwiretapping inside the United States.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said the bill"balances the needs of our intelligence community with Americans'civil liberties and provides critical new oversight andaccountability requirements."

The issue of legal protection for telecommunications companiesthat participated in warrantless wiretapping has been the largeststicking point. The Senate passed a bill that immunized them fromlawsuits, but the House bill was silent on the matter.

The White House had threatened to veto any bill that did notshield the companies, which tapped lines at the behest of thepresident and attorney general but without permission from aspecial court established for that purpose, the ForeignIntelligence Surveillance Court.

On Thursday, White House spokesmanTony Fratto said the bill met the standards sought by Bush and thatthe president supported it.

Warrantless wiretapping went on for almost six years until itwas revealed by The New York Times. Some 40 lawsuits have beenfiled against the companies by people and groups who think thegovernment illegally eavesdropped on them.

The compromise bill would have a federal district court reviewcertifications from the attorney general saying thetelecommunications companies received presidential orders tellingthem wiretaps were needed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack.If the paperwork were in order, the judge would dismiss thelawsuit.

Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the second-ranking Republican,predicted all the cases would go away.

Under the compromise, the district judge would for the firsttime be allowed to read the top-secret letters from Bushadministration officials - usually the attorney general - to thecompanies requesting domestic wiretaps without court orders,according to Democratic aides. Each company got around 40 suchletters, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because ofthe sensitivity of the matter.

The compromise bill would also require the inspectors general ofthe Justice Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies toinvestigate the wiretapping program to determine both its scope andlegality. The report is due in a year.

Those two provisions, immunity and investigation, are meant tobalance two competing concerns. Advocates for telecom protectionsay the companies acted in good faith and that the wiretaps werenecessary to avert another terrorist attack. Opponents to immunitysay civil lawsuits are the best way to determine whether the Bushadministration illegally spied on Americans.

Not all Democrats were falling in line with the compromise.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sens. Patrick Leahyof Vermont, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Russ Feingold ofWisconsin said they opposed immunity. Feingold called the bill a"capitulation."

"The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, whicheffectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged tohave participated in the president's illegal program, and whichfails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home,"Feingold said.

Several privacy and civil rights said Thursday they opposed thebill. The liberal political activist group MoveOn.org wasorganizing a phone campaign Thursday to pressure House members todefeat it.

Sixty-eight senators were expected to support the compromise,enough to defeat any filibuster attempt. The previous Senate bill,which gave the companies blanket immunity, passed with 67 votes.Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, was expected to jointhat group because the new bill includes a measure she championed-making FISA the only legal authority for wiretapping forintelligence purposes.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the senior Republican on theHouse Intelligence Committee, said passage of the bill by Congresswas necessary before August when the first yearlong surveillanceorders approved under a previous surveillance regime would run out. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendment bill also would:

-Require FISA court permission to wiretap Americans who areoverseas.

-Prohibit targeting a foreigner to secretly eavesdrop on anAmerican's calls or e-mails without court approval.

-Allow the FISA court 30 days to review existing but expiringsurveillance orders before renewing them.

-Allow eavesdropping in emergencies without court approval,provided the government files required papers within a week.

-Prohibit the government from invoking war powers or otherauthorities to superseding surveillance rules in the future.

The new FISA bill, if it became law, would expire in 2012.