Pentagon pursues more 'proactive' liaison role on Hill

In a move aimed at improving the way the Defense Department articulates its agenda to an increasingly skeptical Congress, Pentagon leaders have directed their legislative affairs office to be more proactive and aggressive in its communications with lawmakers.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England issued guidance last month that expanded the authorities of the Pentagon's liaison operation, emphasizing that the department "must communicate a consistent and proactive message to the Congress."

The guidance -- which coincides with the first major restructuring of the legislative office in two decades -- was motivated by a desire to have the office better reflect the changing bureaucracy in the Pentagon and enable Defense officials to more rapidly and effectively respond to congressional requests for information, explained Robert Wilkie, who was sworn in this week as the assistant secretary of Defense for legislative affairs.

There is "no more important function for the department [than] to get its message out to the Hill," Wilkie said in an interview Thursday.

The changes in the legislative office were made official in a memo England signed Sept. 15, but many of the reforms have been under way for months. Indeed, Wilkie has augmented his staff by 15 new hires since taking over the office as an acting assistant secretary last January. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has placed an emphasis on meeting with Congress roughly once a week, Wilkie said.

Since January, Rumsfeld has been in front of 390 members, and has spoken personally with 140 lawmakers. That intent is spelled out in the guidance, which directs the legislative liaisons to have "direct, daily and personal contact" with members of Congress and the defense-related committees.

"Success in our legislative program aids our efforts to harness the strength of the nation," England wrote in his memo. Referring to the continuing war on terrorism, he added, "The support of the Congress, and the American people they represent, remains singularly vital to sustaining our national will in this long war."

In the interview, Wilkie did not acknowledge any significant problems with the way the office operated in the past, but he stressed the need to reach out to all members of Congress -- not just those on the defense committees, as has traditionally been the focus.

Indeed, the restructuring of the legislative office comes as Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., and a broad array of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are becoming increasingly concerned about the war in Iraq and the strain current operations place on heavily deployed U.S. ground troops.

After returning from Iraq earlier this month, Warner said the situation on the ground was "drifting sideways" and urged the Bush administration to re-evaluate its strategy if conditions do not improve significantly over the next several months.

And Friday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats sent a letter to President Bush urging him to inform Iraqis that U.S. commitment in the country is not unlimited. "We urge you to change course, level with the American people, and join with us to develop a policy that will work, before the situation in Iraq is irretrievable," they wrote.

In a conference call with reporters Friday, leading Democrats reiterated their calls for a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq. "We have to do our very best to change course, to put it on the shoulders of Iraqis," House Armed Services ranking member Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said. "There's a limit to what we can do and should do."