Cord Byrd: “What an impressive bipartisan array of national security experts pleading with Congress not to rush these reforms. The…”

“What an impressive bipartisan array of national security experts pleading with Congress not to rush these reforms. The list is a list of stars from both sides of the aisle, as it were: David Boren, Bill Bradley, Frank Carlucci, William Cohen, Robert Gates, John Hamre, Gary Hart, Sam Nunn, Warren Rudman, George Shultz, as I have already mentioned, Henry Kissinger. These men from both sides, both political parties, men who have held preeminent positions in this Government, Republicans and Democrats, appeared before the Appropriations Committee and said: Wait, don't act in too great a hurry. They have decades of knowledge and experience, and yet we stand ready to dismiss their concerns out of hand. Let us not be rushed into this. I am not opposed to a national intelligence director. I am not opposed to that. Elections are a perfect time for a debate but a terrible time for decisionmaking. When it comes to intelligence reform, Americans should not settle for adjustments that are driven by the calendar instead of by common sense.”