WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democratic leaders agreed Thursday to a rare closed-door session -- the first in 25 years -- to debate surveillance legislation. Republicans requested privacy for what they termed ''an honest debate'' on the new Democratic eavesdropping bill that is opposed by the White House and most Republicans in Congress. Click here for more of this story.

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 required the transcription of all public and closed session hearings by all House and Senate committees. The responsibility for deciding which hearing transcripts should be published rests with the individual House and Senate committees. Unpublished hearings transcripts are opened for general public access according to different schedules by the Senate and House of Representatives for their respective committees. In the House, unpublished hearings and records are closed for 30 years, with investigative hearings of both the House and Senate normally remaining closed for 50 years.