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The Intelligence Overhaul Bill: A Step Forward?

In hopes of improving security, Congress has passed a bill that overhauls the United States spy system, sometimes called the "intelligence community". The problem is that the professionals in the system have not acted like a community.

The long-awaited bill is a response to the 9/11 Commission’s final report, which said that the intelligence breakdown before September 11th was due, in part, to the poor organizational structure of all those whose job it is to provide information, otherwise known as intelligence, about enemies or potential enemies.

The legislation renovates the U.S. intelligence system by establishing a new intelligence center and National Intelligence Director (NID) who will have control over the budgets and personnel of 15 spy agencies. This reform centralizes power and takes a lot of the anti-spy tax dollars away from military control.

Although the NID will be less powerful than the 9/11 Commission recommended, she or he will be more powerful than the Pentagon would prefer. The debate over the NID’s power almost killed the bill.

Power struggle

In concert with the Pentagon’s complaints, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) stalled the bill in the House, arguing that bringing all of the information together in one place may actually slow down or disrupt the flow of specific information about an enemy’s location, thereby compromising the safety of troops on the ground. At present, the information goes directly from satellites to troops.

However, proponents of the bill, such as the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and member of the House Intelligence Committee Jane Harman (D-Calif.), claimed that the bill would produce better intelligence for soldiers, because information would not get lost, ignored, or simply kept in one of the fifteen separate agencies.

Nevertheless, Hunter demanded reassurance that the intelligence overhaul would not interfere with the need to bring together large scale military plans (strategic plans) with specific battle plans (tactical plans). The White House, which did not want to risk the embarrassment of a popular, Bush-backed, bi-partisan bill failing in a Republican-controlled Congress, appeased Hunter by adding new language to the bill.

The new passage states that the NID will not "abrogate the statutory responsibilities" of the Defense Department. Congressman Hunter is comforted by the added language, which he believes will prevent any obstruction between the Pentagon and soldiers on the ground.

The debate over the phrase "abrogate the statutory responsibilities"

The main Senate negotiator on the bill, Susan Collins (R-Maine), explained in a press conference that the new language won’t impede the powers of the NID.

But critics aren’t so sure. Fred Kaplan of Slate.com contends that the added phrase will prevent the NID from directing about 80 percent of Defense Department activities. Kaplan claims that it prevents the NID from interfering with such “statutory responsibilities" as the interception of intelligence, the control over spy satellites and planes, and the operations and budget of the Defense Intelligence Agency, which includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines sub-branches.

So did Duncan Hunter single-handedly shrink the NID to a mere figurehead? Or did the White House add meaningless words to the bill just to calm him? The future NID will let us know.

Other critiques - Congress leaves itself alone

Another of the 9/11 Commission’s main recommendations was that Congress restructure itself to provide better intelligence oversight.

Both the House and the Senate were wary of reorganizing their own committees and possibly losing power, so the congressional checks over national intelligence will remain largely the same as before September 11th.

Members of Congress have responded to this criticism by saying that they will work on internal reorganization in 2005, but that they wanted to finish the project of rearranging the spy community first.

Congress also promises that next year’s session will see the resolution of another matter that stalled the bill for a time: immigration reforms.

Sensenbrenner incensed by lack of immigration reforms

Although the bill increases the number of border guards and immigration agents, Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R- Wis.) says that the legislation does little to close the immigration loopholes that allowed the 9/11 terrorists to obtain multiple drivers’ licenses and open bank accounts.

Sensenbrenner wanted to require states to verify the legal status of immigrants applying for driver’s licenses. Opponents of his plan say that it may be an undue burden on states and that it unfairly compromises the rights of non-citizens. The Senate and White House were resistant to the controversial provision for fear that it would sink the bill.

Congress promises to reconsider the immigration provision in 2005, the 109th session of Congress.

A step forward?

Although critics are questioning whether or not a new management structure for intelligence agencies is much of a security improvement, Congress and the White House are chalking up the passage of the intelligence overhaul bill as a major victory.

President Bush is expected to sign the bill during the third week in December, 2004, and both Democratic and Republican leaders are calling the bill’s expected enactment a major step forward.

Will reorganizing the spy community make us safer? Will the new NID be able to coordinate intelligence among the CIA, FBI, and other agencies to prevent a future attack? Is Congress being irresponsible by resisting its own reorganization? What other governmental reforms are necessary to make us safer?

What do you think?

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Update Posted on: 12/10/2004