Panel queries officials about intelligence oversight, privacy

The House Judiciary Committee on Friday debated civil-liberties questions while pondering the recommendations of investigatory bodies created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Members of the committee on both sides of the aisle appeared torn over the question of how much power the federal government should have in its ongoing efforts to prevent terrorism.

In its final report, the so-called 9/11 Commission recommended that the government establish an oversight board to ensure that various intelligence and law enforcement bodies adhere to privacy and civil-liberties guidelines. The commission also recommended the creation of standards for state-issued driver's licenses.

To safeguard against abuses in the use of information shared across the intelligence community, the panel further recommended that the president establish common standards and rules for how various intelligence agencies use that information.

Judiciary Committee members asked how an independent oversight body would have influence because Congress itself has had trouble eliciting information from the administration on several key issues. They also wanted to know which federal entities should have privacy offices and whether such offices should be established within local and state agencies. And they appeared to be concerned about giving the federal government too much surveillance power.

On the question of the independent board's power, Lee Hamilton, vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, said Congress must ensure that it has enough authority to compel government departments to produce requested information.

"The recommendation is that the agencies must be required to respond to the board," Hamilton said. He added that the commission had subpoena power and without it would have had more trouble obtaining the information that it used in its report.

Former lawmaker Slade Gorton, a member of the commission and of-counsel at the Preston Gates & Ellis law firm, said Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. are working on a bill at the Senate Commerce Committee to create the board.

Homeland Security Chief Privacy Officer Nuala O'Connor Kelly, meanwhile, said locating privacy offices like hers within departments can be effective, despite skepticism from international observers. She said such privacy offices often are seen as a "helpmate" that can act to pre-empt and prevent privacy abuses.

Kelly added that Homeland Security will issue its annual privacy report to Congress within weeks.

Gorton urged the committee and Congress to act on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations quickly. "Out there somewhere there is a bomb in the streets, and the fuse is lit," he said.