] WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — House and Senate negotiators have agreed that ] a Pentagon project intended to detect terrorists by monitoring
] Internet e-mail and commercial databases for health, financial
] and travel information cannot be used against Americans.

Yay ... Congress is realizing that TIA is bad and having Poindexter
running it is even worse.

] House leaders agreed with Senate fears about the threat
] to personal privacy in the Pentagon program, known as
] Total Information Awareness. So they accepted a Senate
] provision in the omnibus spending bill passed last month,
] said Representative Jerry Lewis, the California
] Republican who heads the defense appropriations
] subcommittee.

The House follows up with the Senate. There seems to be a broad base of support of this, but its a non-decision. It doesn't really restrict TIA. It says that Congress will restrict TIA if the DOD doesn't provide a report on it within a certain period of time. Its easy for Congress to agree that Congress has authority.