Posted on 12/08/2004 11:53:37 AM PST by RWR8189
Even though the House of Representatives has now passed an historic intelligence Reform bill, additional steps still need to be taken to make America more safe and secure in the future. Permanency is good news, but it's not enough. This committee will need stature and clout — real jurisdiction — to provide rigorous oversight over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The September 11 commission's critique of congressional oversight was nothing short of brutal. Prior to September 11, some 88 committee and subcommittees with jurisdiction over homeland security and competing issues did not see combating international terrorism as a top priority, according to the commission's report. The report asserts that Congress was oriented toward domestic affairs, tended to defer to the White House and the Executive Branch on national security matters, made no effort to restructure its oversight to deal with post-Cold-War threats, and allowed the overall quality of oversight to deteriorate in recent years. None of its other key recommendations will succeed, the report concludes, without restructuring of congressional oversight. None of its other key recommendations will succeed, the report concludes, without restructuring congressional oversight. We may quibble about the quality of oversight prior to September 11, but there can be no argument about the need to restructure oversight today.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
it helps if they show up for briefings, too...
Newt & Tom?????..what gives???
I agree. And since that is the case, it would be logical for Congress and the President to work towards reform of US immigration policy, in the context of intelligence reform. Illegals flooding into the US does nothing to improve homeland security or our national intelligence capability.
Ugh!
What an interesting pair! (BTW is Jim Wright still alive?)
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