Intelligence_ From Secrets to Policy - Mark M. Lowenthal [166]
THE ISSUE OF TERM LIMITS. Service on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. unlike other committees, was initially limited. Congress adopted term limits for committee membership based on the view that the pre-1975 oversight system had failed, in part, because the few members involved became too cozy with the agencies they were overseeing.
The major advantage of term limits is the distance that they promote between the overseers and the overseen. Limited terms also make it possible for more members of the House and Senate to serve on the intelligence committees, thus adding to the knowledgeable body necessary for informed debate.
Term limits also carry disadvantages. Few members come to Congress with much knowledge of, and virtually no experience with, intelligence. Because it can be arcane and complex, requiring some time to master, members are likely to spend some portion of their tenure on the committee simply learning about intelligence. Once they have become knowledgeable and effective, they are nearing the end of their term. Term limits also make service on the intelligence committees less attractive, because they reduce the likelihood that a member can become chairman through seniority.
In 1996 Larry Combest, R.-Tex., who was then chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, testified that he thought it was time to consider longer tenure on the committee, which would be to Congress’s advantage. Members on the House committee, however, are still limited to eight years’ service. In 2004, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W. Va., also spoke out in favor of revising the limits, which had been dropped for the Senate panel.
BIPARTISAN OR PARTISAN COMMITTEES? The Senate and House Intelligence Committees are distinctly different in composition. Typically, the ratio of seats between the parties on committees roughly reflects the ratio of seats in each chamber as a whole. The Senate Intelligence Committee has always been exempt from this practice, with the majority party having just one more seat than the minority. Moreover, the ranking minority member is always the vice chairman of the Senate committee. The Senate leadership took these steps in 1976 to minimize the role of partisanship in intelligence. When the House Intelligence Committee was formed in 1977, the House Democratic leadership rejected the Senate model, insisting that membership on the committee be determined by the parties’ ratio in the House, which reflected the will of the people as expressed in the last election.
A bipartisan committee offers opportunities for a more coherent policy, because the committee is removed—as far as is possible—from partisanship. A committee united on policy and not divided by party may also have more influence with the executive branch. In the case of the Corinto mining, Chairman Goldwater and Vice Chairman Moynihan agreed that the intelligence community was guilty of a significant and unacceptable breach. Thus, DCI Casey had no political refuge for not keeping the committee informed. Despite the continuation of this bipartisan structure on the Senate committee, the Democratic minority showed signs of restiveness in the 108th Congress (2003-2005) and the 109th Congress. A formal division of the committee’s budget was made in 2004 (60 percent for the Republican majority; 40 percent for the Democratic minority). In early 2005, Democratic members sought ways to limit the powers of the committee’s staff director in the areas of hiring and staff assignments. Although their goal was greater bipartisan control, the issue was discussed and decided on partisan terms.
Partisanship runs counter to the preferred myth that U.S. national security policy is bipartisan or nonpartisan.