Tierney: House GOP Falls Short on Intelligence Reform
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 – Congressman John Tierney yesterday criticized the intelligence reform bill crafted by House Republicans, saying it falls far short of changes recommended by the Sept. 11 commission in July.”
There is no reason why Congress should be debating legislation that fails in too many ways to reflect the bipartisan work of the Sept. 11 commission and the wishes of the 9/11 families,” Tierney said. The families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he said, did not want the commission’s recommendations caught up in partisan politics.
Tierney said the House bill, scheduled to be considered today, would leave the nation’s new intelligence director with no budget authority and little oversight over Defense Department intelligence groups.
The Salem Democrat said the bill also fails to free radio frequencies for first responders and does nothing to improve protection of water supplies, transportation networks and industrial facilities – all potential terror targets.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., introduced the 335-page bill on Sept. 24. The House bill was written with only Republican input, while the Senate version was a bipartisan effort led by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.
Tierney said he and other House members, including some Republicans, support the Senate bill, which he said succeeds in addressing the major recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission.
Lawmakers are under pressure to pass intelligence reform legislation by the end of the 108th Congress, which is scheduled to adjourn Friday.
Tierney said House Republicans designed a bill they knew would not pass.
Tierney said the House bill would not provide more money for first-responders based on assessments of risks and vulnerability to terrorism. Areas like Everett, which has an onshore liquefied natural gas facility, and Boston, a major urban center, are at higher risk than others, he said.
The Senate bill would base grants on risk and vulnerability.
“We need to prioritize what are more at risk – and establish standards for the private sector,” said Tierney, who co-sponsored a separate bill with Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., that deals with assessing risk.
Hastert, however, said in a press release Tuesday that the House bill “streamlines the process for first-responders with smarter and faster funding. It does so in a way that is cost-effective and puts money where it’s needed most – at the local level.”
Unlike the Senate bill, Tierney said, the House bill lacks any incentive for intelligence agencies to share information, which the congressman called a critical factor in getting to the heart of terrorism. The failure of the FBI and the CIA to share vital pieces of information has been blamed in part for allowing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Republican House bill “just avoids that subject,” Tierney said.
The House bill would give the president the right to reorganize the intelligence agencies and send the plan to Congress for an up-or-down vote. The measure lacks any language on restructuring the treatment of intelligence legislation or oversight, according to Tierney.
“Congressional oversight is very important,” he said.
Tierney said that these provisions reflect a lack of “respect and understanding” of the bipartisan recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the House bill is better than the Senate’s.
“What we did is make Americans safer,” he said. “We didn’t rubber stamp it, we didn’t play politics, we didn’t play to the election or to any media. We actually read the report. There’s nothing in this bill that is not addressed by the Sept. 11 commission’s report or in its recommendations.”
While the bipartisan legislation is successfully making its way through the Senate, the House will be considering its version of intelligence reform today, with a final vote predicted for late tomorrow night.
