Sen. Russ Feingold Triggers a Discussion on Intelligence Reform
Washington,
DC -- Today, at the New America Foundation,
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI)
lead a thought provoking discussion "Confronting Foreign Intelligence and
Information Gaps"and made his first public remarks on his proposed Intelligence Authorization bill (S. 3041)
that would create a non-partisan Foreign Intelligence and Information
Commission.
Sen. Feingold pointed to the "deficits in information collection, as well
as reporting and analysis" and underscored the need for the commission to
make independent assessments on issues including budget allocations, human
resources, diplomatic reporting, and open source information.
Sen. Feingold sponsored the bill, along with Chuck Hagel (R-NE); both Sens. Feingold and Hagel are
members of the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees. The talk
today followed on the heels of past events the New
America Foundation has held on intelligence, including the
"National Intelligence Estimate" event (6/4/2008) with National
Intelligence Council Chairman Tom Fingar, and other discussions on the national
security architecture with Sen. Hagel and Harlan Ullman. Steven Clemons, director of the
American Strategy Program at New America, and publisher of the popular
political blog The Washington Note
moderated today's event, and commented on the impact of the Intelligence
Authorization bill:
"Washington needs to have a serious discussion on intelligence 'strategy
and design' to determine what parts work and what needs to be amended rather
than casting the intelligence bureaucracy wholesale into disrepute. A
commission, like the one called for by Senators Feingold and Hagel, would help
position the target of our nation's intel sites on strategic problems rather
than just the near term, and do so in a proactive way rather than being driven
by inertia and ad hoc reactions to incremental events and crises."
Further information:
Senator's remarks and the event video:
http://www.newamerica.net/events/2008/confronting_foreign_intelligence_and_information_gaps
Op-ed by Sen. Feingold and Sen. Hagel in the Miami
Herald, June 15, 2008: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other_views/story/571639.html
Press release on S.3041: http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/08/05/20080501i.html
Intelligence reform post on The Washington
Note:
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/06/continuing_the/
Get to know our event speakers: Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Steven Clemons
To
arrange an interview with Steve Clemons, contact: Erin
Drankoski, 202-997-8727, Drankoski@newamerica.net
Sign up to receive New America Foundation
event invitations: http://www.newamerica.net/join
Facts about S. 3041 "The
Feingold-Hagel Initiative to Fill Intelligence Gaps"
The bill will create a non-partisan, 14-member Foreign Intelligence and
Information Commission. This commission will report 18 months after its
founding to the congressional intelligence committees; 6 months after that,
they will submit a final report, including the commission's findings and
recommendations for change, to the President, the DNI, the Secretary of State
and the congressional intelligence committees.
The commission will choose private citizens, preferring those who have
experience in analysis, clandestine intelligence collection, diplomatic
reporting/analysis, and experience collecting open source information. They
will be empowered to issue subpoenas, enforceable in U.S. district court.
The commission's responsibilities will be to:
- Evaluate the U.S. government's global strategies to collect foreign intelligence and information;
- Evaluate the extent to which the government coordinates collection and analysis strategies across agencies and among clandestine, diplomatic, military, and open source channels;
- Evaluate whether human and budgetary resources are directed across agencies to meet strategic foreign intelligence and information collection strategies;
- Evaluate the government's efforts to promote language, cultural training, and other qualifications for personnel serving abroad to more effectively collect foreign intelligence and information.
The bill has been endorsed by:
- Zbigniew Brzezinski (Former National Security Adviser to President Carter, 1977-1981)
- Donald P. Gregg (National Security Adviser to President George H.W. Bush 1982-1988)
- Lawrence B. Wilkerson (Former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, 2002-05)
- Carl W. Ford Jr. (Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, 2001-03)
- Gayle Smith (Former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council, 1998-2001; Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress.)
- David Kay (Former Head of the Iraq Survey Group)
- Rand Beers (Former Senior Director and Special Assistant to the President for Intelligence Programs; President, National Security Network.)
Related Programs: American Strategy Program
Topics: Foreign Policy, National Security
