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House Democrats canceled Tuesday’s planned hearing with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, prompting a rebuke from Republicans who want Congress to proceed quickly on updating a key surveillance law. The cancellation of the hearing comes amid an uproar in Congress over Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s perceived lack of candor about a warrantless surveillance program and the Bush administration’s insistence that reform of the court process governing the eavesdropping program is needed in the face of a heightened terrorist threat. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence sent out notice of the hearing’s cancellation late Monday, noting that it had been postponed until after the August congressional recess. The move prompted howls from House Republicans, who echoed administration assertions that the legislation to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, the legal authority for the eavesdropping program, is needed before the August recess because of its critical importance to U.S. national security. “McConnell has even offered to conduct a FISA briefing for all members on this urgent priority,” said one House GOP leadership release. “Do House Democratic leaders intend to take DNI McConnell up on his offer, or are they simply unwilling to allow DNI McConnell to air these concerns in public?” McConnell had just briefed Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, on the NSA program and its history for the first time Monday afternoon. Specter declined to comment afterward. Specter has joined Democrats in raising questions regarding Gonzales’s testimony that the surveillance program raised no legal objections at the Justice Department. Those statements appear to conflict with other top officials’ accounts that the NSA program prompted fierce disagreements over whether parts of it were illegal. House Democrats have called for perjury and impeachment proceedings to remove Gonzales from office. After the NSA briefing Monday, Specter called such discussions “premature.” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee, heaped blame on Democrats for failing to hold the hearing as planned. “Democrats have ignored, downplayed and done everything possible to sidestep addressing the FISA problem,” said Boehner. “Now they have canceled a hearing with the director of national intelligence rather than have him address the issue directly on Capitol Hill. “It’s a matter of fact that our nation faces a heightened risk of terrorist attack and Director McConnell has identified a critical gap in our intelligence coverage. He is exactly the person we need to hear from on how Congress can address this issue. Elana Schor contributed to this report. |
