Questions persist about security lapses

In the wake of the failed plot to blow up an airliner over the United States, key senators want to know if U.S. intelligence agencies have the authority they need to prevent terrorist attacks and how the would-be bomber evaded aviation security measures.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, Friday outlined the questions they plan to ask when they summon senior U.S. counterterrorism officials before their panel for a hearing into the failed Dec. 25 attempted bombing, in which Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up a plane on its approach to Detroit.

The hearing, set for Jan. 20, will feature testimony from Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Michael Leiter, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Lieberman and Collins announced.

They said they will ask Blair and Leiter "why the intelligence community was unable to bring together pieces of intelligence held by various agencies to detect this plot and whether the DNI and NCTC have the authority to integrate the intelligence community into a single, integrated enterprise."

And they want to know from Napolitano how Abdulmutallab was able to get through passenger screening systems with an explosive device despite years of aviation security improvements intended to prevent such an incident.

The White House Thursday released results of an internal review into the incident and announced steps it would take to improve intelligence sharing and aviation security. But some lawmakers are calling for measures that go beyond what the Obama administration is apparently willing to do.

Collins, for example, wants the State Department to identify any person listed in the government's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database who has a visa, and immediately suspend that visa. Had that been done previously, Abdulmutallab's visa would have been suspended.

"While the president's intentions are good, unfortunately his response falls short of directing one of the needed actions we should take immediately to prevent foreign persons with known or suspected connections to terrorism from traveling to the United States," Collins said.

When asked if taking that step is under consideration, a State Department spokesman would only say "more of what State will be doing is to come out soon."

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, indicated in a statement Thursday that another overhaul of U.S. intelligence agencies may be needed.

"The reports released today make abundantly clear that we have an obligation to transform the bureaucracy that still afflicts our intelligence apparatus," she said. She added that she will continue "to fight tooth and nail" to create an inspector general position to oversee all intelligence agencies.

And Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said she plans to introduce legislation requiring airlines to transmit passenger lists to Customs and Border Protection at least 24 hours in advance of international flights arriving in the United States, a move that could spark a backlash from the airline industry.

For its part, the White House report cautioned against a government overhaul.

"A reorganization of the intelligence or broader counterterrorism community is not required to address problems that surfaced in the review, a fact made clear by countless other successful efforts to thwart ongoing plots," the report said.