Senate says Intelligence Network Needs Czar
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2004- The Senate committee in charge of revamping the nation’s intelligence network is proposing centralization of U.S. intelligence gathering activities and giving control over spending to a central intelligence czar, according to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), the committee’s top Democrat.
Appearing yesterday with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs, Lieberman said they planned to introduce legislation next week that would closely follow the recommendations of the 9/11 commission, and take a large step toward unifying the different spheres of expertise within the intelligence community under one national director.
“The American intelligence community today is like a very good football team – a team with great players, but no quarterback,” said Lieberman.
Under the committee’s new plan, the recently formed terrorist threat integration center – a system formed to consolidate the information gathered by the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security – would be expanded into a broader entity; a national counter-terrorism center.
In addition, authority would radiate from a central cabinet-level official who would dictate how funding would be distributed among the agencies under its policy umbrella. Under the Senate proposal, the Defense Department stands to lose significant authority over a large portion of its current intelligence budget, but would keep control of the Defense Intelligence Agency and intelligence “directly related to the battlefield,” according to a spokeswoman for Sen. Lieberman.
The increased budget authority for the proposed intelligence director would be crucial to ensuring that another level of government bureaucracy would not be formed, said Collins.
For the first time last week, President Bush said he would support giving a national intelligence director “full budgetary authority,” but balked at giving the director full say over who would run each individual agency. Under the Senate legislation, the director could make strong recommendations to the White House, but the president would maintain ultimate authority over personnel.
Lieberman noted that without the input of the director on hiring and firing intelligence leadership, conflicts of interest could develop. “Where would the loyalty of those deputies be?” he asked. “Would it be with the departments they spent most of their time in, or to the national intelligence director? We feel very strongly that you can’t blur those lines.”
In addition, the committee’s proposal would create a national counter-terrorism center that would replace the current system for collecting, combining and analyzing information.
Lieberman also noted that the legislation would specifically address potential threats to Americans’ civil liberties by calling for the formation of a special advisory board and the creation of a civil inspector general whose sole purpose would be to monitor the actions of the intelligence community.
House leaders said yesterday they hope to act on their version of intelligence reform before Congress is scheduled to adjourn in October.
“We’re going to make sure we do the job right and we will do it before Congress adjourns,” said House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas), according to the Associated Press.
Lieberman and Collins will formally introduce the legislation to the Senate Committee on Government Affairs next Tuesday.
