WASHINGTON, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The House of Representatives voted Friday to back Democratic-sponsored revisions to a federal surveillance law despite a veto threat from U.S. President George W. Bush.

    The 213-197 vote backs revision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

    The bill allows telecom firms to be sued for their role in the Bush administration's much-disputed warrant less surveillance program -- something the president and his GOP allies in the House have railed against.

    Bush has spent weeks pressuring the House to grant retroactive legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in the program, initiated after the 9/11 attacks.

    He argues that legal protection is needed for companies to continue cooperating with the government and has vowed to veto the Democratic-sponsored bill.

    Bush called the measure "a partisan bill that would undermine America's security."

    But House speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, retorted: "The president is wrong, and he knows it."