Norman D. Dicks: “this morning instead of attending a meeting he had requested with the director of Central Intelligence to discuss…”

“this morning instead of attending a meeting he had requested with the director of Central Intelligence to discuss activities to combat terrorism, the Speaker of the House chose to make some comments which served no purpose other than to undercut bipartisan efforts to pass a meaningful counterterrorism bill. To suggest that our ability to collect human intelligence on terrorists and terrorist organizations had been undermined by the Clinton administration is simply not correct. Perhaps the Speaker, an ex officio member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, should reread the committee's report on the fiscal year 1996 intelligence authorization bill. The report stated, ``Overall, the Committee believes that the work of the U.S. intelligence agencies against terrorism has been an example of effective coordination and information sharing.'' The report also noted, ``The Committee, in its mark, has provided added support to the Intelligence Community programs focused on the terrorist threat.'' The recent report of the Aspin-Brown commission on intelligence also stated, ``U.S. intelligence has played key roles in helping other countries identify and/or arrest several notorious terrorists, including Carlos the Jackal in Sudan, the alleged ringleader of the World Trade Center bombing, in the Philippines, the head of the Shining Path terrorist group in Peru, and those involved in the bombing of Pan Am 103.''”