Senate intelligence panel moves to bolster anti-terror campaign
At a secret markup Wednesday, members of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee came up with a richer program to bolster the nation's anti-terrorist campaign but spent a lot of time complaining about the lack of cooperation from the CIA and the Justice Department in the committee's ongoing investigation of apparent intelligence lapses that may have failed to head off the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Committee Chairman Bob Graham, D-Fla., told reporters after the three-hour session to mark up the fiscal 2003 intelligence authorization bill (S. 2459) that the committee was not happy about its relations with the CIA and DOJ about its inquiry.
Graham said that he, along with Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the ranking minority members of the panels, will seek a meeting soon with Attorney General John Ashcroft and CIA Director George Tenet to "lay out a bill of particulars" as to what the two committees need to jointly proceed with their investigation.
Graham said that the agencies have impeded the committee's access to documents as well as to potential witnesses now in the Justice Department's custody. He added that the agencies have not cooperated enthusiastically with the inquiry and have offered only "grudging cooperation."
Graham acknowledged that he was "surprised" by what he termed the lack of cooperation "because I thought we had an understanding (with the agencies) to get what we needed, the kind of information we want ... "
Asked if the inquiry itself was at stake in the dispute, Graham said: "We can do an inquiry, but the question is whether it will be at the depth and breadth that the American people deserve (in the committee's report of its findings}."
Graham acknowledged that the Justice Department has complained that handing certain documents and potential witnesses over to the committees, even for closed sessions, might jeopardize criminal cases that Justice is building against some in custody now. And the CIA has insisted that it is cooperating readily with the inquiry, despite the committees' complaints.
Graham insisted that the congressional intelligence panels have long safeguarded classified and other sensitive information and could be trusted to continue doing so in this inquiry. Among other things, he said, "We simply want to understand what were the gaps (in intelligence) that led to 9/11, and what we can do to close those gaps."
Finally, he said, he is willing to use his committee's subpoena power to get the documents and officials, as well as witnesses, if it becomes necessary. But he stressed that he hopes that he can persuade Ashcroft and Tenet to resolve this dispute to the satisfaction of the House and Senate panels. He added, "If we can't settle it at the level of the DCI and the AG, then I guess we need to go down to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave."
As for the intelligence bill itself, Graham declined to provide any specific details about either the cost or the programs in the legislation.
In general, however, he said, that the 2003 authorization conforms to the five-year budget plan that the committee adopted last year targeting "major deficiencies" in the nation's intelligence gathering apparatus.
He said there would be more support for such things as the recruitment, training and deployment of "human" resources (spies); modernization of the high-tech equipment and processes of the National Security Agency, which intercepts communications and breaks codes; expansion of the analytical capabilities of the CIA and other intelligence agencies, and a more aggressive research and development program, including satellites and telecommunications, to ensure American superiority in those methods of collecting intelligence.
Also, Graham said, the committee authorized the formation of a new commission of experts to look into intelligence R&D needs and to submit a report to the committee by Sept. 30, 2003.
This commission will be modeled after a similar commission formed by the committee to look into the needs of the National Reconnaissance Organization, which operates the "spy in the sky" satellite system.
Graham refused to even confirm speculation about the amount of money that the committee's bill authorizes to pay for all of the country's intelligence activities. The Bush administration had asked for an increase of about 25 percent, however, in a purported budget this year of $30 billion. So, if the committee accepted that request, the total sum for fiscal 2003 could exceed $37 billion.