[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBILITIES

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                           HON. HENRY J. HYDE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, now that Congress is close to passing landmark 
legislation that will help our intelligence community, it is time to 
take a closer look at streamlining congressional intelligence oversight 
responsibilities. I believe the time for change is now and I am pleased 
to share with my colleagues a recent editorial in the News-Leader, 
Florida's oldest weekly newspaper, which explores some of the options 
once again available to us:

                  [From the News-Leader, Dec. 3, 2004]

                  Joint Intelligence Committee Overdue

       The collapse of Congressional efforts to reform the 
     intelligence community dominated the news just before 
     Thanksgiving. The proposed legislation embodied many of the 
     major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission for fixing the 
     executive branch's intelligence problems. Largely overlooked 
     in this reform debate is Congress' failure, so far, to do 
     enough to address its own problems. Yet the 9/11 panel noted 
     that ``of all of our recommendations, strengthening 
     Congressional oversight may be the most difficult and 
     important.'' The commission also pointed out that, 
     ``Congressional oversight for intelligence and 
     counterterrorism is now dysfunctional.''
       The main reason this critically important congressional 
     responsibility is malfunctioning is because it is spread 
     amongst too many committees. That is why the 9/11 Commission 
     urged Congress to replace the current fragmented oversight 
     arrangement with either a House-Senate joint committee or 
     single panels in each congressional body with exclusive 
     oversight and legislative power.
       Consolidation along these lines would drastically reduce 
     the time high level intelligence community officials spend on 
     Capitol Hill repeating over and over again the same briefings 
     and testimonies to the various committees now exercising 
     jurisdiction over intelligence activities. Redundant 
     congressional demands are becoming so time-consuming that it 
     is increasingly difficult for these senior officials to 
     discharge their primary duties of attending to the many 
     security issues confronting this nation.
       The need to reform Congress' oversight of the intelligence 
     community has been recognized by some members of Congress for 
     years. Henry Hyde, currently chairman of the International 
     Relations Committee in the House of Representatives, proposed 
     legislation to create a Joint Intelligence Committee in 1984. 
     He spelled out what he had in mind in numerous forums, 
     including op ed pieces that appeared in major newspapers. 
     Nearly 17 years ago, Hyde's idea was the top recommendation 
     of the Republican members of the Iran/Contra Committee. Among 
     those endorsing the Hyde initiative were Dick Cheney, Mike De 
     Wine and Orrin Hatch, who served with Hyde on the Iran-Contra 
     Joint Committee. All of these political figures remain major 
     players in Washington.
       The reluctance of Congress to get its own house in order is 
     politically understandable. A Joint Intelligence Committee 
     would require a number of committees and their powerful 
     chairmen to sacrifice their jurisdictions over intelligence 
     matters. But given what is at stake, it is time to 
     subordinate such parochial concerns to the national interest.
       To really, be effective, a Joint Intelligence Committee 
     must have both oversight and legislative authority. 
     Otherwise, those committees with an interest in intelligence 
     issues will try to recapture their lost purviews. 
     Historically, those committees have been Armed Services, 
     Judiciary, Appropriations and Foreign/International 
     Relations. To mollify these traditional bailiwicks, 
     membership on the joint committee should include 
     representatives from each of these committees. The panel must 
     be small to ensure secrecy and promote individual 
     responsibility and accountability. To encourage 
     bipartisanship, neither political party should have more than 
     a one-vote edge. The committee staff should be composed of 
     apolitical professionals.
       In summary, the time has come to think outside of the box 
     and adopt radical congressional reforms to meet national 
     security challenges in the post 9/11 world. The 9/11 
     Commission put it best when it warned that ``the other 
     reforms we have suggested--for a national counter-terrorism 
     center and national intelligence director--will not work if 
     congressional oversight does not change too. Unity of effort 
     in executive management can be lost if it is fractured by 
     congressional oversight.''

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