Senate passes major intelligence reform

WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation to make the most sweeping changes in the nation’s intelligence community since the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947.

The measure, which closely tracks recommendations from the independent Sept. 11 commission, passed 96-2. Only Sens. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., voted against it. Democratic ticket mates Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina weren’t present and didn’t vote.

The National Intelligence Reform Act would consolidate power and responsibility for the nation’s intelligence agencies under one director. It would create a national center to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts and information sharing. It would break down the legal and bureaucratic walls dividing domestic from foreign intelligence gathering.

Congress has been under pressure to get the intelligence agencies working better since the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks resulted from a lack of clear leadership, information sharing and coordination among intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

“Our intelligence forces today are like an army without a general. … That will change now,” said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., a co-sponsor of the bill.

The Senate legislation includes 39 of the commission’s 41 recommendations. The two omitted concern reorganizing Senate committee jurisdictions, a politically delicate area that the Senate intends to tackle separately.

The House of Representatives is to begin debating its substantially different version today. Lawmakers hope to reconcile the two measures in time for President Bush to sign a final bill into law before Election Day.

“An intelligence community designed for the Cold War must be transformed into one designed to win the war against global terrorism and future national security threats,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the bill’s lead sponsor.

The rush to meet the Election Day deadline irked some lawmakers, however. “The risk that this bill will grow into a hydra-headed monster increases exponentially as Election Day nears,” Byrd said.

He’d led the charge to slow the bill’s consideration but he couldn’t fight momentum built by the Sept. 11 commission. Since releasing its final report in July, commissioners lobbied lawmakers in hearings, news conferences and private meetings. They endorsed the Collins-Lieberman bill as the best chance to enact key recommendations. They also lobbied against amendments that would undermine their goals.

During two weeks of debate, the Senate defeated amendments to weaken the power of the new national intelligence director and retain broad intelligence powers under the defense secretary, who currently oversees the vast majority of the nation’s intelligence capabilities.

The Senate measure would create a post of intelligence director with vast budgetary and administrative control over the nation’s 14 major intelligence agencies. It would establish a national counterterrorism center to better coordinate efforts among domestic law enforcement and foreign intelligence agencies, such as the FBI, the Homeland Security Department and the CIA.

It would reaffirm that it’s U.S. policy not to torture prisoners during wartime, and to abide by national and international laws in the treatment of detainees. The Sept. 11 commission said doing so could help repair damaged relations after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq.

The bill would establish a civil liberties board to monitor possible conflicts between national security and personal rights. The measure also would allow the government to share private data with commercial enterprises under certain circumstances. Privacy advocates fought to strip that provision from the bill, but lost.

“The bill strikes a delicate balance” to protect civil liberties, Collins said.

The legislation would require the Homeland Security Department to take control from commercial airlines of “no-fly” watch lists of suspected terrorists. It would expand the list for use on maritime cruises.

The bill would beef up transportation security by authorizing an additional $800 million to screen cargo and passenger baggage, hire air marshals and develop and install high-tech security measures at airports.

It would permit the Homeland Security Department to still give money to cities that aren’t thought to face terrorist threats but requires most of the money be allocated according to risk assessments. Senators want to retain population-based distribution of security funds, a practice that the Sept. 11 commission criticized but that’s useful to lawmakers in courting votes.