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Foreshadowing
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8 December 2004
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Intelligence Reform Bill Finally Brought to a Vote
At long last, the 108th Congress is voting on an Intelligence Reform Bill. Delayed by electoral politics, the bill almost didn’t make it out of conference committee because of rancorous obstruction. However, it wasn’t Democrats who were holding up the president’s bill. The hold-up was an internal GOP matter and may be the shape of things to come. With strong majorities in both houses, the Republicans may wind up being their own opposition.
On the face of it, the two reasons for holding up the bill were legitimate, if inappropriate. Tighter standards for issuing driver’s licenses (which in America are a state, not federal function) is a sensible anti-terror measure, but it could be handled elsewhere and may deserve much more consideration than it receives as part of this bill as House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner should have known before holding things up. Meanwhile, ensuring that the troops in the field have a clear chain of command doesn’t mean the Pentagon should run American intelligence. The mealy-mouthed language that the bill contains is a fig leaf that lets House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter climb down from his silly position means nothing.
These are minor issues, but they betray a split in the Republican Party that often occurs when one party has a lock on the institutions of power in a polity. In the American system, these are exaggerated because the constitution is specifically designed to keep the executive and legislative working against one another. Mr. Bush, if one takes him at his word, wanted this bill. House Speaker Dennis Hastert held the bill up in the House of Representatives because, although there was a majority in favor of the legislation, the Democrats provided the margin of victory. Mr. Hastert insisted that the bill receive a majority of Republican votes. Why? Well, if he has his own committee chairmen voting against his bill, it undermines his position in the House.
Those familiar with Japanese politics and the Liberal Democrats there, or the history of the British Tory Party in Mrs. Thatcher’s(as she then was) second government, will recognize the situation. Factions and interests within the ruling party emerge and feel free to openly confront the leadership. After all, the official opposition are too few in number to stop it, and “we have a mandate.”
Mr. Bush is very proud of the political capital he has amassed. One believes his account is not as full as he does. If he needs to spend some of it to get a lame-duck session of Congress to approve an intelligence reform bill (one will refrain from pointing out the irony of Mr. Bush pressing for any bill that uses the word “intelligence”) when there is already a majority in favor of it, he may find an overdraft is necessary before much longer.
© Copyright 2004 by
The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without
written consent.
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