The chairman of a key U.S. Senate panel on Thursday called for swift passage of a controversial bill criticized as an expansion of the government’s electronic spying powers. The pitch from Sen. Arlen Specter on the Senate floor arrived one day after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave the green light to his National Security Surveillance Act, touted as a compromise with the White House to verify the constitutionality of programs like the National Security Agency’s terrorist surveillance program. Full Story