(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-14 22:10

WASHINGTON -- The House held an unusual closed-door session to talk about classified intelligence gathering in anticipation of a vote Friday on a warrantless eavesdropping bill.

An aerial view of the Capitol building in a file photo. The House abruptly postponed a vote on a spy bill on Thursday after Democrats agreed to a Republican request to hold a rare secret session to discuss classified security matters. [Agencies]

The Democratic bill would set rules for the government's surveillance of phone calls and e-mails. President Bush has vowed to veto it.

The president's main objection is that the bill does not protect from lawsuits telecommunications companies that allowed the government to eavesdrop on their customers without permission from a court after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

House Republicans succeeded Thursday in delaying the vote by one day by requesting a rare, late-night closed session of Congress to discuss the bill. It was the first secret session of the House in a quarter century.

The last such session was in 1983, on US support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua. Only five closed sessions have taken place in the House since 1825.

Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas said she didn't believe any minds were changed on the bill but that the session allowed views to be exchanged.

"We couldn't have gone more of an extra mile to make sure we're doing the best for national security," she told The Associated Press.

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