Democrats seek alternative on phone immunity

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers drew White House fire on Tuesday when they offered an alternative to U.S. President George W. Bush's demand that phone companies that participated in his warrantless domestic spying program receive immunity from lawsuits.

Under the Democratic proposal, phone companies would present their defense in a closed-door U.S. district court, with the judge given access to confidential documents about the electronic surveillance begun after the September 11 attacks.

"This is a reasonable and intelligent way to proceed without jeopardizing our responsibility to fight terrorism," said House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers of Michigan.

But the White House, along with Bush's fellow Republicans in Congress, the Justice Department and the office of director of National Intelligence denounced the proposal, drafted by House Democratic leaders as part of a sweeping spy bill.

"As the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded, the failure to extend liability protection will undermine the private sector's willingness to help the intelligence community do its job," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Even if the full House passes the Democratic measure, it appears certain Republicans will block it in the Senate, extending with no apparent end in sight an election-year dispute over national security.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, called the House bill "a tremendous step forward."

"My problem," Reid said, is that "President Bush doesn't negotiate on anything."