Jan. 22, 2007 – 8:30 p.m.
The Senate Intelligence Committee opens a pair of oversight hearings Tuesday on how the 2004 intelligence overhaul law is being implemented.
Among the issues to be discussed is whether the law (PL 108-458) gives the director of national intelligence sufficient power to integrate the spy community effectively.
This hearing — and another scheduled Jan. 25 — illustrates a fresh spirit of bipartisanship that Chairman
Rockefeller, now in his fourth term, may find it hard to rebuild the bipartisan comity that has long defined the panel charged with overseeing the nation’s espionage community when he starts delving into areas that have triggered partisan tensions in the past.
A committee investigation into the quality and use of intelligence by the Bush administration in the run-up to the Iraq War was never finished under Rockefeller’s Republican predecessor,
In an interview, Rockefeller said that finishing it is “not going to be particularly pleasant.” But, he said, he will make sure that the investigation, known as Phase II, is completed.
Rockefeller said he also plans aggressive oversight of President Bush’s detention of enemy combatants, his domestic surveillance programs and other subjects, adding that he is prepared to use his subpoena power to get the documents he needs from the administration.
He anticipates little trouble as he tries to balance the committee’s responsibilities.
“I don’t think it’s that hard,” he said of restoring bipartisanship. He said the panel will complete the Phase II inquiry into how the administration used prewar intelligence but will do so while conducting other investigations.
“You don’t have to only be doing Phase II and nothing else so that everyone’s emotions and and attentions and press releases are riveted to that,” he said.
It is too early to tell how well Rockefeller and Bond will work together. Bond was vocal in his attacks against Rockefeller and other Democrats who briefly shut down the Senate in 2005 to draw attention to the slow-moving Iraq investigation, alleging that the maneuver was politically motivated.
Publicly, at least, they have been on the same page on many committee activities, even issuing several joint news releases. And Bond has signed on to Rockefeller’s effort to push the stalled fiscal 2007 intelligence authorization bill, despite having expressed reservations about the legislation.
Rockefeller’s desire to win passage of that bill — also stalled by partisan fighting — has been interpreted by some as a bid by Rockefeller to prove that he can succeed where Roberts failed.
Rockefeller demurred, noting instead that Congress has acted on the authorization measure “for 27 consecutive years, and all of sudden we couldn’t do it” for the past two years.
But, he said, the measure contains provisions that would be valuable to have in law instead of simply waiting for Bush’s budget proposal for fiscal 2008 and moving ahead with a fresh intelligence authorization bill. Action on the fiscal 2007 authorization bill is the first task on his agenda, and his committee approved a draft version of the legislation last week.
By early summer, Rockefeller said, he wants to complete the Phase II investigation that the panel committed to in February 2004. That was the year in which the committee wrapped up the investigation’s first phase, which focused largely on the CIA’s shortcomings.
When it comes to documents and information that the committee has sought, Rockefeller said he is prepared to use every tool available to him, including subpoenas.
“If it comes to that, yes, I will,” he said. “I hope it doesn’t. But every time the president says, ‘Come counsel with me, let me hear your views about the war’ — which I’ve done — then says, ‘I’m going to do exactly what I want regardless of what the Congress says’. . . that doesn’t exactly fill me with the warmth of optimism.”
In seeking access to certain information, Rockefeller has an ally in Bond. For example, both want more details about Bush’s warrantless surveillance program.
Committee Republicans said they agree with Rockefeller’s intention to pay more attention to future threats. Rockefeller said he has assembled study groups within the committee staff to look at Africa, Asia and other parts of the world that could become breeding grounds for potential terrorists. A series of closed hearings in the coming weeks will examine intelligence threats in several countries.
And Rockefeller and Bond share an early positive assessment of retired Vice Adm. J. Michael McConnell, President Bush’s choice to replace
Bipartisanship, Rockefeller said, is not only a commendable goal, it is essential. “It’s for the practicality of it and caring for our mission,” he said.