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.

Protecting D.C.- Management of the Federal Protective Service investigated

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Oversight Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia held a hearing regarding management challenges facing the Federal Protective Service (FPS).

Senators at the hearing questioned Director of the FPS (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement section) Gary Schenkel and Mark Goldstein, Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) about the progress the FPS has had in protecting Washington from terrorist attacks, as well as enforcing the law.

Schenkel argued that his agency has been successful in protecting the city and people of Washington in recent years despite a lack of sufficient funding from the government. With more money, Schenkel said the FPS could increase the protection of the over 9,000 buildings they oversee the protection of yearly. Goldstein noted that despite a lack of proper equipment the GAO has improved training for police officers in recent years and is looking to continue to do so.

FBI Director Confident Bureau is headed in the Right Direction

The House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies interrogated FBI Director Robert Mueller on a number of issues pertaining to the progress of his department. Issues covered during the hearing were the FBI’s fiscal year 2009 budget request, the progress the FBI has made in counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and cyber security, and the methods the department uses to carry out their wide-spanning activities.

Mueller’s comments were met with both criticism and support by the members of Congress making up the panel conducting the hearing. The hearing was chaired by Congressman Obey (D-WI) who was particularly critical of the methodology used by the FBI to interrogate alleged criminals, and of the expensive budget Mueller hopes to receive.

Mueller’s defense of the large budget requested by the FBI was that the bureau needs money to recruit and train new employees, as well as to efficiently protect America. Director Mueller mentioned that the FBI is trying to crackdown on “white collar crime” and maintained that his department conducts its business legally.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing on Polar Bear Threats and Protection

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) chaired an investigation this morning questioning the “timing and reasoning” behind the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s delay in their decision on whether or not to include polar bears under the Endangered Species Act.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works devoted significant attention to delay in the decision to include polar bears under the ESA because such a decision on the bears' inclusion will now not be made until after the Minerals Management Service has issued leases for risky oil and gas development set to occur in “almost 30 million acres of polar bear habitat.” Such leases could further threaten polar bear life.

Boxer and the Committee questioned Dale Hall, director of the USFWS, and each party agreed that due to factors such as climate change, the development and transportation of oil and gas, pollution, and even human interaction, polar bear habitat, prey, reproduction, and chances for survival has diminished. As Margaret Williams, Managing Director of the Kamchtka/Bering Sea Ecoregion Program of World Wildlife Fund noted, “We need to closely scrutinize and prevent all actions that may add further stress to the polar bear, including conducting oil and gas leasing in prime polar bear habitat.”