US lawmakers reach deal on intelligence reforms

WASHINGTON - US lawmakers on Monday reached a deal on overhauling the nation's spy agencies, ending a month-long wrangle about the Pentagon's power under intelligence reforms proposed after the September 11 attacks.

Resolving the issue clears the way for the House of Representatives and Senate to pass the legislation that creates a new director of national intelligence post, and send the bill to President Bush for his signature.

After last-minute appeals by Bush, House and Senate negotiators said they had agreed on language resolving differences over the military chain of command.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said they would now support the legislation.

Both Hunter and Warner had objected that a compromise negotiated between the House and Senate could undermine intelligence to battlefield commanders.

They said language inserted into the bill would ensure that field commanders have priority access to intelligence assets.

"That means that all of the assets that are in that particular theater, whether they're aircraft that send images down to the troops so they know where the bad guys are, or send signal intelligence down to the troops, those platforms are under the command of that particular commander and his subordinate field commanders," Hunter told a news conference.

Bush urged Congress to pass the legislation. "We are very close to a significant achievement ... and now is the time to finish the job for the good of our national security," he said in a letter to lawmakers.

Congressional aides said the House could take up the bill as early as Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. The intelligence reforms will be the last major bill for the 108th Congress. The 109th Congress convenes in January.

Senate and House negotiators thought they had reached agreement last month on the intelligence reforms, which would give the new director of national intelligence significant power over budget and personnel matters. The Pentagon now controls 80 per cent of the intelligence budget.

The bill stalled after Hunter asserted it could harm the military chain of command and create obstacles to real-time intelligence reaching troops in battle.

Bush sought to reassure Hunter, saying in his letter: "It is my intention to ensure that the principles of unity of command and authority are fully protected."

Other disputes -- mainly over immigration and law enforcement issues -- could still cause problems for House Republican leaders who insisted that a majority of their party support the bill before they would bring it to a vote, even though it would have passed with Democratic support.

A spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said he still opposed the legislation because it does not contain provisions he sought on drivers license standards and asylum seekers.

The compromise legislation would implement key reforms sought by the Sept. 11 commission, which cited major failures in US intelligence before the hijacked airliner attacks in New York and Washington.

Some of the families of Sept. 11 victims have been lobbying lawmakers to enact the legislation, holding vigils near the White House and demanding action.

The bill would overhaul the nation's 15 spy agencies and strengthen powers to arrest those who aid terrorists.

Congressional aides have long questioned Bush's commitment to the Sept. 11 commission and its reforms. The president initially opposed creation of the commission, and, at first, balked at giving full budget authority to a national intelligence director.

- REUTERS