Palm Beach Post (Florida) March 19, 2004
Charge About Kerry Vote On Intelligence Is False
Letters to the Editor
President Bush's claim that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., introduced a bill in 1995 to "gut the intelligence services" ("Bush calls Kerry 'insider' who flip-flops on issues," March 9) is misleading at best. In fact, Sen. Kerry simply voted for an amendment to cut $1.5 billion from the intelligence budget for a spy satellite that never was launched. The money originally was appropriated by the Air Force's National Reconnaissance Office, and most of Sen. Kerry's Senate colleagues voted for the amendment.
According to the Web site www.globalsecurity.org, Sen. Kerry, a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, strongly has supported increased intelligence financing, including $200 billion in the past seven years - a 50 percent increase since 1996.
CARL FOWLER
Jupiter
© Copyright 2004, Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.
