US Senate ready to pass bill overhauling secret government eavesdropping rules

The Senate finally is expected to pass a bill overhauling rules on secret U.S. government eavesdropping, completing a lengthy and bitter debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks.

The vote, planned for Wednesday, would end almost a year of wrangling between the House of Representatives and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, and Congress and the White House over the president's warrantless wiretapping program that was initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The fight over the bill has centered on one provision: shielding from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped …