FBI, CIA directors oppose aspects of intelligence reform

The directors of the FBI and CIA told Senate Governmental Affairs Committee members Wednesday that they oppose proposals to overhaul the intelligence community that would take power away from their respective agencies.

Members of the committee said the creation of a powerful national intelligence director appears inevitable, especially since President Bush told congressional leaders Wednesday that he will submit a plan to Congress giving the new director budgetary authority over the nation's 15 intelligence agencies.

"It is clear from our hearings that the director of Central Intelligence lacks the budget and personnel authorities necessary to achieve the kind of unity of effort that we need across the intelligence community," committee ranking member Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said during the hearing.

"For example, while the present director has authority on paper to transfer personnel or funds between agencies, it can take as long as five months, and even then, only if the affected department heads approve. This does not provide the flexibility needed to quickly meet emerging threats."

FBI Director Robert Mueller and the CIA's acting director, John McLaughlin, told the committee, however, that they disagree with some intelligence reform proposals. For example, neither believes a national intelligence director should have the power to task operations within their agencies.

"The NID should not be directly responsible for the conduct of operations," Mueller said. "The role of the NID should, instead, be to ensure that appropriate activities and operations are conducted by the constituent elements of the intelligence community."

Mueller also opposes removing the counterterrorism and counterintelligence divisions from the FBI, which has been proposed in pending legislation. He said such a move would cause major disruptions for operations and personnel.

"The FBI's components, particularly the counterterrorism and counterintelligence divisions, are not distinct and severable entities," Mueller said. "They include long-term professional employees, such as analysts who spend decades developing a subject area expertise; mid-career field agents serving two- or three-year tours of duty to expand, or hone their counterterrorism or counterintelligence experience before returning to management positions in field offices; and senior FBI executives who have proven themselves in leadership roles in the field or other headquarters components."

Mueller is also against proposed legislation that would make the FBI's executive assistant director for intelligence a deputy to the national intelligence director.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee plans to draft its own legislation by the last week of September. Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the committee is examining whether federal law has to be changed to give a national intelligence director budgetary authority, or whether such power can be granted through a presidential executive order.