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Republicans wanted intel chief power over pentagon agencies Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/10354749.htmThe compromise, according to several Senate aides with knowledge of the negotiations, leaves the new intelligence chief with authority over the intelligence budgets of the three most important Pentagon spy agencies: the National Security Agency, which intercepts electronic signals; the National Reconnaissance Office, which runs spy satellites; and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which compiles mapping information.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/10354749.htm
Posted on Mon, Dec. 06, 2004
Republican drops opposition after compromise on intelligence bill
BY STEPHEN J. HEDGES
Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Congressional negotiators Monday cleared the way for a final vote on a sweeping intelligence reform measure, reaching a compromise over the authority that a new national intelligence director will exercise over spy activities now run by the Pentagon.
The logjam that for several weeks blocked efforts to reorganize the nation's 15 intelligence agencies was broken by a 19-word phrase that clarifies the chain of command between the president and the heads of federal agencies, such as the Defense Department. It requires a new director of national intelligence to respect the authority of those government executives when issuing intelligence commands.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the chief opponent of the legislation until Monday's compromise, said his primary concern was that military personnel who urgently need intelligence information, such as satellite imagery, be able to get it fast. "We have received a satisfactory provision that protects them, and so I will vote for the bill," he said.
The phrase that Hunter accepted states that the director of national intelligence "shall respect and not abrogate the statutory responsibilities of the heads of the departments of the United States government."
The compromise, according to several Senate aides with knowledge of the negotiations, leaves the new intelligence chief with authority over the intelligence budgets of the three most important Pentagon spy agencies: the National Security Agency, which intercepts electronic signals; the National Reconnaissance Office, which runs spy satellites; and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which compiles mapping information.
Control of those budgets, the bill's proponents have argued, is vital if the new intelligence director is to have real power to coordinate the government's often-disparate intelligence operations.
In addition to creating a director of national intelligence, the bill will establish a multi-agency National Center for Counterterrorism, much like the current Terrorist Threat Integration Center. Other initiatives in the bill are designed to increase the sharing of intelligence within government organizations such as the Central Intelligence Agency, and among all of the federal, law enforcement and Defense Department agencies involved in intelligence work.
The reform effort's chief Senate sponsors, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., praised Hunter's decision, while noting in a statement that the compromise has changed little of their original bill.
"Our bill creates a more coordinated intelligence community with one person in charge, to help make Americans safer and better serve the president, the military, Congress and other agencies that rely on national intelligence," they said.
The Senate already overwhelmingly approved the reform act in November. It will also have to approve the new compromise language, but that vote is expected to go quickly.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., could schedule a vote on the intelligence bill as early as Tuesday, though Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., remains insistent that the bill include provisions to bolster immigration and border enforcement and restrict issuance of drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants. The compromise bill does not include those immigration clauses.
Senate and House aides said Monday that Sensenbrenner's objections would not be strong enough to block the bill's passage and that it was Hunter's opposition that had held up the measure.
Though a reorganization of the nation's intelligence agencies has been discussed for years, the idea gained currency after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when intelligence and law enforcement agencies failed to detect the plot. The case for reform was made with particular urgency in July by the independent commission formed to review the terrorist attacks.
The commission's proposals drew a favorable reception in the Senate and House, where many lawmakers have pushed for their adoption by the end of this Congress.
Though President Bush was initially slow to back the Sept. 11 commission's recommendations, he moved to support its main ideas, including the creation of an intelligence director.
On Monday evening, Bush sent congressional negotiators a letter supporting the compromise.
"We are very close to a significant achievement that will better protect our country for generations to come, and now is the time to finish the job for the good of our national security," the letter said.
Hunter had blocked efforts to pass the legislation since before Thanksgiving, when members convened a lame-duck session of the 108th Congress to finish up business. Though enough Democratic and Republican votes existed in the House to push the bill through, Hastert refused to schedule a vote until Hunter's views were fully considered and the Republicans could exhibit convincing majority support.
At the same time, the White House launched an intensified effort to win over Hunter and other reluctant Republicans. In the last few days, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke several times with Hunter, according to a House aide, and Senate aides said that White House political director Karl Rove and Chief of Staff Andrew Card were also engaged in the lobbying.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, acknowledged Cheney's role during a press conference with Hunter.
"I think the vice president was a very major figure in carefully listening and balancing the various interests in this, and then, I think, drawing on his own experience as a former secretary of defense," Warner said.
Despite the White House pressure, Hunter dug in his heels over language in the bill that would share authority over the activities of Department of Defense satellite, intelligence intercepting and mapping functions.
During a recent hearing, Hunter also enlisted the support of military leaders, including Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Hunter secured a letter from Myers in which the general objected to efforts to give the new intelligence director budget authority over some Pentagon activities.
Myers backed away from that position last week, telling reporters that "the issue that I specifically addressed in a letter to chairman Hunter has been accommodated."
In the end, Hunter also appeared less concerned about the intelligence chief's budget authority than a clear definition of the chain of command, and the military's ability to control how it manages battlefield information.
"The ability of the combatant commanders," Hunter said, "to have at their disposal, to protect the lives of their soldiers and carry out their missions, all of the assets in that particular theater, including intelligence assets, we think is critical."
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© 2004, Chicago Tribune.
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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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