Joe Lieberman: “I want to read a few sentences from the 9/11 Commission Report on page 416 which I think are relevant. It says: . . .…”

“I want to read a few sentences from the 9/11 Commission Report on page 416 which I think are relevant. It says: . . . Opponents of declassification argue that America's enemies could learn about intelligence capabilities by tracking the top-line appropriations figure. Yet the top-line figure by itself provides little insight into U.S. intelligence sources and methods. . . . Here is a point that one of the members of the Commission, again a former member of this body, made from the 9/11 Commission Report. The U.S. Government readily provides copious information about spending on its military forces, including military intelligence. The intelligence community should not be subject to that much disclosure. But when even aggregate categorical numbers remain hidden, it is hard to judge priorities and foster accountability. That is in defense of disclosing the 15 individual agency budgets. I say to the Senator from Alaska, who knows this better than I--and I am honored to serve on the authorizing Armed Services Committee--we give a fair amount of detail of the budget in terms of military programs.”