House Republicans have specifically targeted freshman Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.) in their effort to force consideration of Senate-passed intelligence surveillance legislation favored by the Bush administration.

House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) sent a letter Friday to Carney asking him to join 190 Republicans who signed a discharge petition that would force the Senate overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) to the House floor.

Carney, however, is on record as supporting the Senate bill.

In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dated Jan. 28, Carney and 20 other Democrats voiced strong support for the Senate bill.

“The Rockefeller-Bond FISA legislation contains satisfactory language addressing all these issues and we would fully support that measure should it reach the House floor without substantial change,” stated the letter signed by Carney and other Democrats. “We believe these components will ensure a strong national security apparatus that can thwart terrorism across the globe and save American lives here in our country.”

In his Friday letter, Blunt noted Carney’s support for the Senate legislation as well as his support for a Republican-lead discharge petition on immigration legislation.

Carney is one of ten Democrats who signed a petition to force floor action on a bill that would tighten security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Carney, who represents a conservative district that President Bush carried by 20 points in 2004, told The Hill on Wednesday that the Republican leadership had not asked him to sign the petition on the Senate intelligence bill.

After learning of Carney’s comment, Blunt moved quickly to deny him an excuse for not supporting the petition. 

“Please consider this letter to be my formal request that you sign the discharge petition to bring the Rockefeller-Bond FISA bill to the House floor,” Blunt wrote.

A spokeswoman for Carney declined to comment.

Businessman Chris Hackett will challenge Carney after defeating businessman Dan Meuser in an expensive primary in April. Carney’s seat, which Republicans lost in 2006 in large part because of ethical issues, is one of the GOP's top targets this year.

The debate over intelligence surveillance has become a charged topic since the Protect America Act, which granted broad powers to intelligence officials, expired in February.

Democratic leaders have argued that the law’s expiration would not affect intelligence gathering because surveillance orders signed by senior administration officials would remain in effect.

But those orders will begin to expire in August.

If Congress does not pass legislation by Memorial Day, intelligence officials will have to prepare dozens of individual surveillance warrants, a cumbersome alternative to the process authorized by the Protect America Act.

One Democratic official familiar with the issue said that intelligence capabilities will likely begin to degrade.  

House passage of the Senate bill would end an impasse between House Democratic leaders and the White House over intelligence authority. Democrats oppose the Senate bill because it would grant retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that shared customers’ private data with intelligence officials.

House Democrats say they are opposed to giving “blank-check” immunity to telecommunications companies for actions that remain largely secret.  

Carney is one several Blue Dog Democrats who have felt pressure in recent weeks to support the Senate bill.

Defense of Democracies Action Fund, a self-described non-partisan advocacy group, has aired radio ads criticizing conservative Democratic members of the Blue Dog Coalition for supporting a House-crafted intelligence bill opposed by Bush.

Aaron Blake contributed to this story.