Richard Shelby: “Mr. President, as former Director Woolsey of the CIA once said, "It is impossible to conduct a meaningful debate on the…”

“Mr. President, as former Director Woolsey of the CIA once said, "It is impossible to conduct a meaningful debate on the effects of such amendments without explaining the component parts of the intelligence budget." Think about that a minute. How much is spent for the CIA? How much is spent for signals intelligence? How much are we spending on satellites, and so on? It is that discussion which creates the likelihood of disclosure of sensitive intelligence information that would be of benefit to our adversaries. Mr. President, there are many opportunities to debate and discuss the details of the intelligence budget among the Intelligence, Armed Services, and Appropriations Committees. We all do this. This is not a topic that goes unexamined by the people's representatives in the Senate or the House. Mr. President, the Senate Intelligence Committee was established to ensure vigorous oversight of our intelligence activities. I believe myself that the committee faithfully represents the American people. Our goal is to maintain a robust intelligence capability while ensuring that our intelligence activities are conducted in accordance with American values and constitutional principles. The members of the committee take their responsibilities very seriously, and I pledge to the American people that we will continue to represent the best interests of this Nation.”