Kerry, whose involvement in politics arose out of his virulent opposition to the Vietnam War, said at the beginning of his career that he would like to "almost eliminate CIA activity."
SEN. JOHN KERRY ON HIS VARIOUS PROPOSALS TO CUT INTELLIGENCE FUNDING: “I was on the Intelligence Committee. What we were trying to do, some of us, was push the funding not into technical means. There was a fascination always with satellites, listening devices, not with human intelligence. I’ve always been somebody who has felt that we needed human intelligence, that’s our failure. … I wanted to reduce spending from The National Technical Means and change the culture of our intelligence gathering.” (Fox News “Sunday,” 1/25/04)
THE FACTS ON KERRY’S EFFORTS TO CUT INTELLIGENCE FUNDING
In 1997, Kerry Questioned Size Of Intelligence Community. “Now that [the Cold War] struggle is over, why is it that our vast intelligence apparatus continues to grow …” (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 5/1/97, p. S3891)
In 1995, Kerry Proposed Bill To Gut $1.5 Billion From Overall Intelligence Budget, Not Specific Programs. Kerry introduced a bill that would “reduce the Intelligence budget by $300 million in each of fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.” There were no cosponsors of Kerry’s 1995 bill, which never made it to the floor for a vote. (S. 1290, Introduced 9/29/95)
In 1994, Kerry Proposed Bill To Gut $1 Billion From Intelligence And Freeze Intelligence Spending. Kerry proposed a bill cutting $1 billion from the budgets of the National Foreign Intelligence Program and from Tactical Intelligence, and freezing their budgets. (S. 1826, Introduced 2/3/1994)
In 1994, Kerry Proposed And Voted To Cut $1 Billion From Intelligence. Kerry proposed cutting $1 billion from the budgets of the National Foreign Intelligence Program and from Tactical Intelligence, and freezing their budgets. The amendment was soundly defeated. (S. Amdt. 1452, Introduced 2/9/94; H.R. 3759, CQ Vote #39: Rejected 20-75: R 3-37; D 17-38, 2/10/94, Kerry Voted Yea)
Proposed Cuts Would Have Hurt All Intelligence Programs And Military Readiness:
ü U.S. Code: National Foreign Intelligence Program Encompasses All Aspects Of Intelligence Community Programs And Efforts. “The term ‘National Foreign Intelligence Program’ refers to all programs, projects, and activities of the intelligence community, as well as any other programs of the intelligence community designated jointly by the Director of Central Intelligence and the head of a United States department or agency or by the President.” (50 U.S.C. § 401a-6)
ü Major Component Of National Foreign Intelligence Program Is FBI’s Nationwide Counter Terrorism Programs. “Important responsibilities of the FBI’s [Field Offices] are foreign counterintelligence and counter terrorism within the United States, economic espionage, and the ANSIR (Awareness of National Security Issues and Response) Program. Special Agents working these programs strive to detect and thwart the intelligence collection activities of foreign powers and their agents, and take aggressive measures to reduce the vulnerabilities of the United States to terrorism.” (“The National Foreign Intelligence Program,” FBI Baltimore Division Website,
http://baltimore.fbi.gov/nfip.htm, Accessed 1/25/04)
ü Tactical Intelligence Provides Vital, Time-Sensitive Support For Commanders And Soldiers On Ground. Tactical Intelligence includes “[t]hose activities outside the National Foreign Intelligence Program that accomplish the following: a. respond to operational commanders’ tasking for time-sensitive information on foreign entities; b. respond to national intelligence community tasking of systems whose primary mission is support to operating forces; c. train personnel for intelligence duties; d. provide an intelligence reserve; or e. are devoted to research and development of intelligence or related capabilities. Specifically excluded are programs that are so closely integrated with a weapon system that their primary function is to provide immediate-use targeting data.” (“Tactical Intelligence And Related Activities,” Department Of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms,
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/, 6/5/03)
In 1993, Kerry Proposed $45 Billion In Science, Intelligence And Defense Spending Cuts. (John Aloysius Farrell, “Buchanan Vindicated, But Pulitzer Unlikely,” The Boston Globe, 11/20/93