25 August 2004
Senate to Examine Intelligence Oversight Committee Structure
Congressional Report, August 25: Response to 9/11 Report
The U.S. Senate will begin looking at its structure of various committees assigned to oversee intelligence and homeland security issues, the Senate leadership says.
In responding to the 9/11 Commission report issued in July, Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle announced August 24 the creation of a 22-member panel to examine how its committees oversee intelligence, homeland security, and counterterrorism matters.
The 9/11 Commission, formally known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, recommended that the current structure of the congressional committee system could be improved to enhance the effectiveness of preventing terrorist attacks against the United States.
"Ensuring that the Senate is as effective as possible when dealing with the threat of terrorism is a principal concern," Frist said in announcing, with Daschle, the creation of the panel. This working group includes 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats, most of whom are senior members of the Senate.
The 9/11 Commission has recommended that the House and Senate's select committees on intelligence be combined into a single, joint committee with stronger powers to call witnesses and control budget authority. It also recommended that Congress strengthen the homeland security committees by giving them legislative powers, which they don't have now.
In a related matter, House Speaker Dennis Hastert announced that he will name a new chairman for the House intelligence committee to succeed Representative Porter Goss, who stepped down after being nominated by President Bush to become the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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