FBI, Apple to appear before Congress for hearing on encryption

This announcement comes as the two sides are waging an increasingly public dispute that centers on one iPhone but touches on much larger issues of privacy and security in a digital world. The FBI has insisted its requests here are narrow and aimed at finding other terrorists; Apple argues that the government's demands threaten "everyone's civil liberties."

FBI Director James Comey and Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel, will appear as witnesses on two different panels next Tuesday, according to the House Judiciary Committee.

"Americans have a right to strong privacy protections and Congress should fully examine the issue to be sure those are in place while finding ways to help law enforcement fight crime and keep us safe," Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a joint statement Thursday.

Sewell's panel will also include Cyrus Vance, district attorney for New York County. Vance and William Bratton, the New York City police commissioner, released a statement last week saying that Apple's refusal to comply with the FBI is proof of how tech companies "are thwarting serious criminal investigations and impeding public safety."

The FBI has been unable to unlock an iPhone 5C that was used by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of two shooters who killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in the Dec. 2 attacks in California. Agents have been able to access older iCloud backups from the phone, but are seeking data that remains on the phone, which was given to Farook in his job with the county health department.

Last week, the Justice Department sought and obtained a California judge's order telling Apple to disable a feature that automatically clears data from a phone after 10 incorrect attempts at entering a password. Apple chief executive Tim Cook responded with a public letter saying the government was asking for "something we consider too dangerous to create." Cook told ABC News in an interview Wednesday that the request is "bad for America."

The Justice Department, meanwhile, said in a court filing that Apple is only concerned about its marketing, which the company has disputed. Apple has called on the Justice Department to withdraw its demands for help and instead form a panel of experts or a commission to discuss the issue.

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Comey wrote a public letter asking people to "take a deep breath" and insisting that the government is not trying to set a precedent with its request.

"Maybe the phone holds the clue to finding more terrorists," he wrote. "Maybe it doesn't. But we can't look the survivors in the eye, or ourselves in the mirror, if we don't follow this lead."