Kerry reveals anti-terror blueprint

The battle for the White House intensified over national security issues on Monday amid Sunday's terrorist warnings to a handful of financial institutions and the recent recommendations by the independent panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry released their respective solutions aimed at protecting the country against another terrorist attack.

Bush, during a White House briefing, called on Congress to enact the Sept. 11 commission's top proposal: a national intelligence director to coordinate intelligence gathering from foreign and domestic sources across the federal government.

Kerry responded by accusing the Bush administration of moving too slow on the commission's recommendations and took a pre-emptive strike at Bush's announcement by releasing a blueprint of his homeland security plans.

"If the president has a sense of urgency ... he would call the Congress back" to move swiftly on the proposals, said the Massachusetts senator.

But Bush declined to call for a special session, saying Congress should review the recommendations over August and then take action when lawmakers return in September.

The president said he would support a national intelligence director outside the White House to avoid disrupting the chain-of-command with the Pentagon and homeland defense policies. However, the official would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Kerry countered by saying he would create a Cabinet-level national intelligence director to give the official adequate leverage and power to speak for the White House.

Bush said Congress also should reorganize to have streamlined oversight for intelligence and homeland security efforts, rather than requiring administration officials to testify multiple times before several committees that now share jurisdiction over the issues.

Bush also signaled support for a national counter terrorism center that would expand the existing Terrorist Threat Integration Center to integrate disparate intelligence databases across the government. He said over the coming days the White House would sign off by executive order on several recommendations.

Kerry's blueprint stated, beyond a national intelligence director, that he would reform the intelligence community to coordinate and integrate efforts around threats such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and hostile countries. Kerry also said he would seek to cut off funding for terrorists and improve diplomatic relations to Arab and Muslim countries.

Feeling the weight of election year pressure, Republicans and Democrats have raced to action on the panel's proposals-not wanting to appear idle on preventing terrorism. House and Senate leaders called for several congressional hearings during its annual summer break this month.

The Senate Governmental Affairs panel, which held the first congressional hearing Friday, and the House Government Reform Committee have scheduled hearings Tuesday. Five other House panels are also slated to look into the proposals in August.

Lawmakers like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., already have crafted legislation to create a national intelligence director and Senate Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Friday her committee would draft similar legislation.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., ranking member of the Governmental Affairs Committee, applauded the administration's decision to establish the National Intelligence Director position, but he criticized Bush for not granting budgetary authority to the new official-a reform proposed by the Sept. 11 commission. Lieberman said also that the president and Congress must move quickly.

"If Congress has the will, I believe we could enact intelligence reform legislation before we recess for the elections so that changes are in place before the year is over," Lieberman said. "That's an ambitious timetable. But I think it is justified, given that our country is under threat of attack."

David McGlinchey contributed to this report.