The intelligence bill is passed

LJWorld.com weblogs Congressional Briefing

Posted by Joel Mathis December 9, 2004 at 9:28 a.m.

Sen. Pat Roberts has pushed long and hard for a bill to reform the nation's intelligence capacities -- in fact, he demanded a cigar to celebrate an apparent victory in the battle a few weeks ago. So with Wednesday's passage of just such a bill, there must be no happier man in Washington.Right?Wrong.[The Wichita Eagle][1] reports that Roberts believes the plan "didn't go far enough to achieve real reform.""It is no secret that I believe we should have gone farther," said Roberts, R-Kan. But, he added, "When you compromise you do not get everything you want."Roberts made similar sounds to [The Associated Press:][2] "This bill does not give the Director of National Intelligence all of the authorities that I would like to provide," Roberts said. "It is my sincere hope, however, that it will at least create a voice independent of the institutional interests that currently divide our intelligence community, a voice that can lead us toward what I believe is the ultimate goal - a more rationally organized intelligence community with a clear chain of command and the real accountability that comes with it," he said. President Bush now has the bill on his desk. No word on when he'll sign it.One other link today:Sam Brownback links [Administration considers turning up the heat on Iran][3]How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation [here.][4] [1]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/nation/10373630.htm [2]: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10370103.htm [3]: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/10372084.htm [4]: http://ljworld.com/extra/where_to_write.html#fed