(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-30 15:52

WASHINGTON -- The US Congress passed on Tuesday a two-week extension of an anti-terror surveillance law set to expire later this week.

The Senate is also expected to consider extending the surveillance law by two weeks, although Senators voted down a 30-day extension on Monday.

Senate Republican leaders have said they would agree to an extension if the Senate can pass new surveillance legislation this week, including giving retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that allowed the government to wiretap their customers without court permission.

The White House has urged lawmakers to move quickly to send President George W. Bush a bill that would replace the surveillance law due to expire on Friday.

"We will accommodate this request so that Congress can live up to its commitment to passing a bill that gives the intelligence community the tools they need to protect the nation," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

Bush and Republicans have called for the passage of a bill to replace the expiring surveillance law, which was adopted last August and expanded the power of U.S. authorities to track suspected enemy targets without a court order.

However, some Democrats in the Senate have called for amendments to the law to limit or eliminate the legal immunity.