Kline
Amendment to Intelligence Bill Unanimously Approved
WASHINGTON – October 1st, 2004 - An
amendment by Congressman John Kline (R-MN) to legislation
reforming our nation’s Intelligence community was adopted by
the House Armed Services Committee yesterday. The amended
legislation passed the committee unanimously and will be
considered by the full House of Representatives next week.
As written, the original legislation gave
to the National Intelligence Director sole power to nominate
directors for the National Security Agency (NSA), National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Geo-Spatial
Intelligence Agency (NGA). Although all three agencies are
located within the Department of Defense and are responsible
for combat support activities, the Secretary of Defense was
excluded from the nomination process.
Kline’s amendment removes this
restriction, enabling the Secretary of Defense to exercise
discretion in nominating directors of agencies within the
Department of Defense.
“Our
top military officers and troops in the field rely on NSA, NGA,
and NRO to support their operations,” said Kline.
“The leadership of these
agencies should reflect the concerns of its military
customers.”
