Thursday
Feb052009
Nominee for Director of CIA may lack experience
By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service
Leon Panetta, nominee for Director of the CIA, was quizzed today in a full committee room by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.
In his opening statement Panetta said: “First I want to work with the professionals to get into the detail of all our operations and to make certain that we are responding to our fundamental intelligence needs...Second, I want to focus on improving intelligence coordination and collaboration...Third, I want to rebuild a close working and consultative relationship with Congress.”
The hearing focused on Panetta’s lack of experience in the intelligence field, raised by Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo), Vice Chairman of the committee.
Senator Bond said: “Many of us were surprised by your nomination because we believed that the next CIA Director should have a professional intelligence background, which you clearly do not have. This raises a number of questions that I will seek your answers to today”.
Panetta began his career in the Army as an intelligence office, then went on to working with policy-makers and to serve in Congress. He leads a complex federal agency and has served as a White House Chief of Staff. At the White House Panetta worked on many sensitive issues. He has also worked with the Iraq Study Group, relying on CIA insight and other intelligence agencies.
Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) posed a hypothetical situation to Mr. Panetta about his actions as Director of the CIA if a CIA member leaked classified information. Mr. Panetta responded to the committee that he would see this as a “breach” which he would alert to the committee and would “recommend pulling their clearance”.
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) questioned Panetta on his views on Osama Bin Laden. Mr. Panetta said: “One of the responsibilities we have is to go after our worst enemy and that is Osama Bin Laden...there is a continuing effort to ensure that we try to do everything possible to try to find him and that would be one of my priorities frankly, to make sure that we do in fact find him and bring him to justice.”
Panetta was also questioned on torture, sharing intelligence, guantanamo bay and potential threats. The hearing lasted for over 120 minutes.
Leon Panetta, nominee for Director of the CIA, was quizzed today in a full committee room by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.
In his opening statement Panetta said: “First I want to work with the professionals to get into the detail of all our operations and to make certain that we are responding to our fundamental intelligence needs...Second, I want to focus on improving intelligence coordination and collaboration...Third, I want to rebuild a close working and consultative relationship with Congress.”
The hearing focused on Panetta’s lack of experience in the intelligence field, raised by Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo), Vice Chairman of the committee.
Senator Bond said: “Many of us were surprised by your nomination because we believed that the next CIA Director should have a professional intelligence background, which you clearly do not have. This raises a number of questions that I will seek your answers to today”.
Panetta began his career in the Army as an intelligence office, then went on to working with policy-makers and to serve in Congress. He leads a complex federal agency and has served as a White House Chief of Staff. At the White House Panetta worked on many sensitive issues. He has also worked with the Iraq Study Group, relying on CIA insight and other intelligence agencies.
Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) posed a hypothetical situation to Mr. Panetta about his actions as Director of the CIA if a CIA member leaked classified information. Mr. Panetta responded to the committee that he would see this as a “breach” which he would alert to the committee and would “recommend pulling their clearance”.
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) questioned Panetta on his views on Osama Bin Laden. Mr. Panetta said: “One of the responsibilities we have is to go after our worst enemy and that is Osama Bin Laden...there is a continuing effort to ensure that we try to do everything possible to try to find him and that would be one of my priorities frankly, to make sure that we do in fact find him and bring him to justice.”
Panetta was also questioned on torture, sharing intelligence, guantanamo bay and potential threats. The hearing lasted for over 120 minutes.
tagged 
CIA, Protection, classified, committeee, director, intelligence, leon, nominee, paneta, select, senate, terror in News/Commentary
CIA, Protection, classified, committeee, director, intelligence, leon, nominee, paneta, select, senate, terror in News/Commentary
Boehner Rejects White House's Notion That Stimulus Has Worked
On Thursday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.) slammed Vice President Joe Biden over the inefficiency of the Democrats’ stimulus plan and the lack of jobs it has created in Boehner's home state of Ohio.
“Ohio's unemployment rate is above 10 percent. The nation's unemployment continues to rise. And families and small businesses across the country are asking, ‘Mr. Vice President, where are the jobs?’,” Boehner said.
Boehner blamed the Obama administration for its inability to restore jobs to Americans across the country.
“The administration promised the stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent, and they promised the stimulus would create jobs immediately. It's pretty clear now that the administration was wrong,” Boehner said.
The House Minority Leader cited other Democratic legislation that he believes could worsen the economy as well, saying “Here we are at a time when we're trying to save jobs in America, help get our economy going again, and all people see is a lot of wasteful Washington spending, job-killing measures like energy and health care, and, oh, yes, we've got to take care of the saltwater marsh mouse.”
On Wedndesay, Boehner said President Obama and Vice President Biden have been telling lies about why the Stimulus package hasn’t reversed the nation’s spiraling unemployment rate, and argued that GOP-backed tax cut plans would a better solution to return momentum to the struggling economy.
Boehner also touched on the recent letter which incriminates the CIA on enhanced interrogation methods, insisting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should apologize for having accused the intelligence agency of a lack of transparency.
“I do not believe that the CIA lied to Congress. I'm still waiting for Speaker Pelosi to either put up the facts or retract her statement and apologize. And I don't know that this letter changes anything with regard to the speaker's action,” Boehner said.