[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: Beware of Tinkering Lawmakers

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Beware of Tinkering Lawmakers

August 28, 2004
 


 

Underpinning the 9/11 commission's call to reform the
nation's intelligence services is the parallel warning that
Congress must reform itself. The commission called on
Congress to junk its 17-committee jungle of jurisdictional
fiefs, which have failed miserably in their responsibility
of oversight. 

It is evident that Capitol Hill must streamline to one or
two committees with centralized budgeting and oversight
powers. But for weeks, committee lions in the House and
Senate have been hemming and hawing about the 9/11 study's
insistence that true reform will prove impossible unless
Congress ends its fractured system. Finally, the Senate
majority leader, Bill Frist, has taken a first step in
creating a bipartisan "working group" of 22 senators to
study the prickly task. 

Effective revamping of the congeries of rival committees
and subcommittees must entail an upending of most
lawmakers' personal power bases. Considering the egos
involved, a generalized hubbub may be all this group will
accomplish. Still, the 9/11 panel has set a worthy marker
of credibility - "tinkering with the existing structure is
not sufficient." 

In the House, Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois has
indicated no great appetite for committee consolidation.
Rather, he is leaving this hot potato to two committees
working on overall intelligence reform. Jane Harman, the
ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee,
properly stresses that any real attempt at oversight means
Congress must stop signing blank checks for the Pentagon,
which controls most of the annual $40 billion intelligence
budget in various secretive ledgers. For openers, the
budget should be made public. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/28/opinion/28sat4.html?ex=1094721411&ei=1&en=064f0482ef83b2ec


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