No Intelligent Leadership on the Committee

No Intelligent Leadership on the Committee

March 9, 2006

Under the leadership of Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), the Senate Intelligence Committee has turned into a rubber stamp for the Bush administration. Roberts’ stonewalling of important national security investigations have weakened the country during a time of war and has allowed the administration to continue its failed policies without repercussions. Earlier this week, by voting along partisan lines, Roberts’ was successful in blocking a moderate proposal for a probe into the president’s warrantless wiretapping program.

• Roberts’ compromise enables the Bush Administration to continue to break the law and spy on Americans. By sidestepping the legality question of the Bush Administration’s unconstitutional and warrantless spying on Americans, Senator Roberts is giving it the stamp of approval. One expert has argued that Roberts’ proposal is an “invitation here to the president to go on indefinitely with warrantless surveillance.”
  
  
• Roberts’ manipulation of the Intelligence Committee has rendered the oversight process meaningless. By neglecting to conduct the required oversight of the Bush administration Roberts continues to fail the nation. Over Roberts’ latest maneuvering, Senator John Rockefeller commented, “This committee is basically under control of the White House,” further adding it was “no surprise that Mr. Roberts led this retreat.”
  
  
• Under Roberts’ leadership the Intelligence Committee has failed to investigate serious national security issues such as torture and Iraq. Roberts has successfully stonewalled investigations into the Bush Administration’s use of pre-war intelligence, complicity in acts of torture and the outing of a CIA agent. While Roberts’ actions may have strengthened his own standing within the Bush Administration, he has weakened the oversight process — a vital component of our nation’s democracy. Roberts’ efforts have also damaged America’s moral standing in the global community and missed crucial opportunities to correct the administration’s misguided policies in the war on terror.