Intelligence bill passes
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 8, 2004
WASHINGTON – Congress on Wednesday ordered the biggest overhaul of U.S. intelligence in a half-century, replacing a network geared to the Cold War fight against communism with a post-Sept. 11 structure requiring military and civilian spy agencies to work together against terrorists intent on holy war.
The Senate overwhelmingly passed the legislation 89-2, one day after the House easily pushed through the compromise strongly endorsed by President Bush.
Washington state U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both Democrats, voted in favor of the legislation.
Bush praised what he called “historic legislation that will better protect the American people and help defend against ongoing terrorist threats.”
“We remain a nation at war, and intelligence is our first line of defense against the terrorists who seek to do us harm,” Bush said in a statement released after the Senate’s vote. He gave no indication when he would sign the bill.
The Sept. 11 commission, in its July report, said disharmony among intelligence agencies contributed to the inability of government officials to stop the attacks. The government failed to recognize the danger posed by al-Qaida and was ill-prepared to respond to the terrorist threat, the report concluded.
In response, the legislation establishes a new director of national intelligence to oversee the nation’s 15 military and civilian spy agencies and make sure they work together to forestall future attacks. The bipartisan commission said that didn’t happen before terrorists flew airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
The intelligence director will not be part of the president’s Cabinet but is to have the same access as the defense secretary and the secretary of state. He will have authority to move intelligence assets around the globe to keep an eye on terrorist groups like al-Qaida – as well as nations such as North Korea and Libya.
Bush has not yet decided whom to nominate to be the first intelligence director, spokesman Scott McClellan said. “We will move as quickly as we can, obviously, to implement the provisions and move forward on the steps it calls for in this legislation,” he said.
