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Congress's Turbulent Relationship With Intelligence
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11387 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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11 / 1986 |
4,412 Words |
| Author
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Claiborne Clark
Claiborne Clark is a free-lance writer and veteran of
broadcast journalism in the United States and Asia. |
Benjamin Franklin once wrote: "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." While Franklin may have overstated the case, it is certainly true that the more people who know a secret, the greater the chances that someone will spill the beans, either inadvertently or intentionally.
Democratic governments are, for the most part, open governments. Few are more open than that of the United States. Capitol Hill is overrun with politically motivated, talkative people; and many of them have access to secret information vital to the security of the country.
Despite the fact that intelligence activities (both defense- and foreign policy related) are primarily the responsibility of the executive branch of government, Congress fits into the intelligence picture in several important ways.
First, as the legislative branch of government, Congress is in a position to establish and amend the legal framework within which intelligence must operate, and to control the purse strings.
Second, various intelligence-related committees on Capitol Hill have the power to initiate and carry out investigations into the activities of the American intelligence community.
Since intelligence activities can overlap into many areas of governmental operations, a number of committees-especially Foreign Affairs, Appropriations, Armed Services, and Judiciary-may occasionally deal with related matters. No committees are as deeply involved in this field, however, as the Senate Select
... (1998 of 27029 Characters)
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