Posted on 11/21/2004 12:57:04 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Sunday blamed the White House and Pentagon for resisting intelligence reform and gave the U.S. Congress a failing grade for not passing legislation.
Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas also cited turf battles and unwarranted concerns that proposed changes would somehow harm military operations during a time of war.
"There's been a lot of opposition to this from the first," Roberts said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. "Some of it is from the Pentagon. Some of it, quite frankly, is from the White House, despite what the president has said."
A spokesman said President Bush would renew pressure on Congress to reach agreement on intelligence reforms this year. "It remains a high priority for the president," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The plan to overhaul the 15 spy agencies and act on recommendations from the Sept. 11 commission was blocked on Saturday by opposition from key House Republicans. House Speaker Dennis Hastert promised to bring lawmakers back in December if another deal was reached, but negotiators said that was unlikely.
A key sticking point was over how much power to give a newly created national intelligence director over the estimated $40 billion intelligence budget, 80 percent of which is currently controlled by the Pentagon.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged lawmakers in October not to dilute the Pentagon's budgetary power.
Concern that intelligence reform would endanger military efforts during wartime was "a false claim," Roberts said.
"I don't think it was only House Republicans. I think some of us who have been working for reform perhaps underestimated the strong undertow of opposition to this and support for status quo," he said.
"And so you put all those factors together, and unfortunately intelligence reform went down. And as far as I'm concerned, Congress gets a big fat 'F' in regards to that effort," Roberts said.
Rep. Jane Harman of California, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said the president should have been firmer with the Pentagon.
"The president, as commander in chief, couldn't get the secretary of defense to stop his opposition, which has been ongoing for months and which emboldened some of these House folks to dig in," Harman said.
Bush initially balked at giving full budget authority to the national intelligence director, but under pressure from a close race for re-election later threw his support behind a Senate plan to give the new director full control over the intelligence budget.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he was hopeful a bill could yet be completed in December but indicated the White House may have to step in to halt Pentagon opposition.
"There is not general agreement between the Pentagon and members of the White House and hopefully that can be resolved," the Tennessee Republican said on CBS "Face The Nation."
"For us to do the bill in early December, it will take significant involvement by the president and the vice president and the White House," Frist said.
On ABC's "This Week," Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he believed there was still "a pretty good chance" of passage.
Intelligence agencies have been criticized for failures related to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, and for saying Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
it looks like the defense establishment doesnt want to give up its intell .... i would guess they are conservatives and the others are the liberal..... so this is classic fight ...
if the liberals get to know what the conservatives know then our enemies will know.... the liberals are in league with the socialist, multiculterists....
Many republican congressmen are trying to keep recommended provisions for border security in this bill. They should be commended. Two are Hostettler and Sensenbrenner.
The Secretary of Defense had this to say last week:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0411/16/ldt.01.html
DOBBS: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is warning of the threat of terrorists entering this country through the same routes as those used by illegal aliens. Secretary Rumsfeld, traveling in South America, warned that enemies look for weaknesses and take advantage of them.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The risk is that some of these human-smuggling routes into our country from this hemisphere could be used just as easily for terrorists.
DOBBS: And three million illegal aliens are estimated to be entering this country this year.
Secretary Rumsfeld also said the United States has to be, as he put it, smarter and quicker in securing our borders. The federal government's failure to secure those borders is leading individual states to take action. Arizona's Proposition 200, which limits state benefits for illegals, passed overwhelmingly two weeks ago. Now at least half a dozen other states are considering similar measures.
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Washington, D.C. Office
To write about issues pending in Congress, internships, flags, or tours, contact:
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Telephone: (202) 225-5101
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And this:
DOBBS: Let's start with this guest worker program. Both candidates, Senator Kerry and President Bush, basically worked very hard during this campaign to avoid this issue. Will the House be taking it up in rigorous terms?
REP. JOHN HOSTETTLER (R-IN), CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY:: Well, the House will not be taking up in a positive sense guest worker legislation. We know that this is a priority for some in Washington. It is not a priority for the House of Representatives. In fact, those of us in the House that deal closely with the immigration issue believe that we need to go the other way. And that is look at the issue of enforcement and strong enforcement of our immigration laws in order to keep not only more millions of illegal aliens out, but to do something about the 10 plus million that are here now.
DOBBS: Congressman, if you pause just a little, I think you're going to hear a lot of people cheering to hear an elected representative of the people talking in these terms.
The fact of the matter is, in your position, as chairman of the subcommittee, Donald Rumsfeld today, the secretary of defense, saying that he was now concerned that terrorists could use the same routes as used by human smugglers. Are you surprised to hear him at this rather late date acknowledging that risk?
HOSTETTLER: Oh, well, this is something that we have been concerned about for years. It is an issue that, as we look at the number of individuals crossing, for example, the southern border, referred to as OTMs, or other than Mexicans, that number is rising drastically, because others in the world realize that our southern border is porous. Our men and women in uniform and the Border Patrol are doing everything they can and then some to enforce and strengthen the border. There are just not enough of them. And this is something that there may be some disconnect within the administration..~snip~
That's the big problem and with the problems with the CIA it could be a disastor. It's up to them to pound this out. The Pentagon must maintain some control over it's intelligence budget.
The control of intelligence product by one individual gives that individual enormous power. Remember that Beria was the most powerful person In Stalinist Russia. Having multiple intelligence agencies splits power and creates checks and balance. I have concerns about vesting to much power in one intelligence agency or individual. Am I the only one who has this concern?
I vertainly don't feel that one person should have the control of the budget. Their should be one person or agency who coralates the information from the other intl gathering agencies,
They should have a budget of their own. The Strategic Intel Agencey should be very small but be seperate from the other's. Strategic Intel would direct the other agency where they should or need them to place their emphasis.
These are to work hand in glove, with The Strategic Intel directing resources and advising the President.
The control of the funding should remain as it is.
"Am I the only one who has this concern? "
Far from it.
No. Only one head on this Snake. Advisor for those area OK
The problem is that that will be one powerful snake!
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