[ OUR OPINION ]
Bush needs
to show he favors
intelligence reform
THE ISSUEHouse Republicans seemed to defy the president when they blocked a vote on the bill.
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Bush should demand that House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who bowed to pressure from conservative members of his party and their Defense Department allies, reconvene before year's end and put the bill up for vote.
Otherwise, the measure that has been the focus of months of congressional negotiations will dissolve. In addition, the credibility of the president -- who publicly supported the bill, but who did not object when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld bucked the commission's proposals -- will be further called into question.
On Saturday, Hastert yanked the bill that had the support of the Senate, the commission, the 9/11 family groups and the ostensible endorsement of the White House even though it most likely would have passed. With new members in the next Congress, the bill will be trashed and work will have to begin all over again.
The bill would have created a new national intelligence director and counterterrorism center to resolve the turf issues that stymied coordination of information that pointed to the 2001 terrorist attacks. That the Pentagon would have to surrender the reins on budget and personnel led to opposition from Rumsfeld and the military hierarchy loathe to lose power.
Even under pressure from Bush and Vice President Cheney, Wisconsin Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, both Republicans, balked and Hastert could not find the political courage to bring the bill up for full House vote. Sensenbrenner later had the gall to complain that he would not compromise because Senate Republicans had shown him "no respect."
The congressman misunderstands his duty. His sensitivities should have no bearing when the security of the American people is at issue.
Hunter's objections -- that the bill would allow intelligence officials to interfere with the military chain of command -- were eliminated when Cheney had his own legal counsel draft a provision to address his concern.
Still, both men seemingly defied the White House, leading critics to contend that despite the president's public statements, he allowed Hunter and the Pentagon's back-channel lobbying to undo the bill. They say that if Bush, who at first opposed the commission's proposals, had pushed more strongly, the House would have done his bidding.
The president now vows that when Congress returns early next month, he will get the bill passed. He will snuff out speculation about his motives and the value of his political capital if he does so.
