Pentagon official, House Dems spar over terrorism report

The Pentagon's top civilian intelligence official and Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday disagreed about how quickly Congress and the White House should move to implement the recommendations of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of Defense for intelligence, warned lawmakers to move cautiously, and he praised President Bush for not acting in haste.

"We're moving with all the deliberate speed this requires," he told the committee. "But this is hard stuff, and it's important that we get this one right."

Democrats left during Cambone's testimony to hold a news conference where they criticized the administration and congressional leaders for not moving quickly enough on the commission's recommendations.

During Wednesday's hearing, House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., backed Cambone's testimony, saying lawmakers would be foolish to "simply rubber stamp a proposal" to create a new national intelligence director. Also, Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., criticized the Democrats and said the president has moved quickly to get behind two of the panel's top proposals to remedy flaws in the intelligence system.

House Armed Services ranking member Ike Skelton, D-Mo., asked Cambone to list three areas in which he disagrees with the commission's recommendations. Cambone pointed to the call to make him, in his capacity as undersecretary of Defense for intelligence, one of the intelligence director's deputies. Cambone said he opposed the recommendation "not because I'm unwilling to wear a second hat," but because restructuring along these lines "would need to be thought about a little more carefully."

Cambone said he supports the creation of the intelligence director position. He added that the director would have to improve the performance of intelligence assets, assure they have access to all national intelligence databases and provide adequate technological support. While saying the director would need budgetary authority and have the ability to shift resources, Cambone did not appear to endorse the notion of giving that person broad control over the intelligence budget. He also opposed centralizing intelligence analysis under the new director. "The last thing you would want to do is pull that analytic skill up to his level and consolidate it in one place," Cambone said.

Meanwhile, the commission's two top members appeared before the House Intelligence Committee today to defend their proposal that the national intelligence director be based in the White House. The commission's chairman, former New Jersey GOP Gov. Thomas Kean, and the vice chairman, former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., said various agencies can work effectively against terrorism "only if they are working directly for, and directly under, the president." Kean and Hamilton also said the director needs budgetary authority. President Bush last week embraced the idea of a national director of intelligence, but the job would be outside the White House and would not have budget authority.