Intelligence legislation introduced
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., unveiled legislation Tuesday that adopts nearly all the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission to overhaul the nation’s intelligence gathering and counterterrorism efforts.
The proposed legislation, which goes far beyond what President Bush has proposed to date, would create a new National Intelligence Authority whose director would have authority over the spending and selection of top officials not only of the Central Intelligence Agency, but also of the National Security Agency and National Reconnaissance Office, which are currently controlled by the Defense Department.
The legislation is likely to draw fire from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose department controls about 80 percent of current intelligence spending. Lawmakers sympathetic to Rumsfeld, who also want to preserve their turf on armed services committees, are also opposed to such major changes.
McCain, however, said now isn’t the time for “turf battles.”
“International terrorism poses a real and present danger, and it is our responsibility to take action on the commission’s recommendations, regardless of committee or party or jurisdiction or turf,” he said.
Lawmakers called on the public to mount pressure on Congress. “Momentum is important. Time is not on our side,” said Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., a co-sponsor of the measure.
The announcement of the legislation signaled that debate over how to reorganize the intelligence community, in light of criticism from the Sept. 11 commission and findings about U.S. intelligence failings in Iraq, will be the dominant issue between now and November’s presidential elections.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has endorsed the Sept. 11 commission’s recommendations and has been critical of Bush’s response to the issue.
The White House said it had no comment on the legislation.
McCain, who’s campaigned on Bush’s behalf, said the president has reacted well to the issue. Last month, Bush endorsed the concept of a new national intelligence director and nominated Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., to head the CIA. In a series of executive orders, Bush expanded the power of the CIA director and created a counterterrorism center.
But McCain said more comprehensive legislation is needed. “The president reached the limits to what he can do with executive order,” he said.
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, who said he favored the legislation, criticized Bush, saying “leadership has been lacking” to implement broad, sweeping reforms.
“It is up to us with the time we have now to provide that leadership,” Daschle said.
In addition to setting up a National Intelligence Authority with power over budgets and hiring, the bill also would change the way homeland security money is distributed, basing spending on threat, not population. Such a formula is likely to mean less money for sparsely populated states such as Wyoming and more money for places such as New York, considered a top terrorist target.
The bill would also seek to develop better relations with the Arab and Muslim worlds by increasing money for U.S.-sponsored broadcasts in the Islamic world as well as scholarships and cultural exchanges.
The bill also recognizes fallout from the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal by calling for the United States to treat detained prisoners according to the Geneva Conventions.