Nethercutt slams Murray for 1990s votes

By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times staff reporter

Sen. Patty Murray urged "spirit of unity" after report's release.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Related stories "We are not safe," says 9/11 report

Nethercutt campaign spokesman Alex Conant faulted Murray for three votes in favor of paring intelligence agency budgets by nearly $6 billion, despite "early terrorist attacks" including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

"Today's report shows that we have paid a price for not having a stronger and more effective U.S. intelligence operation. Murray's record is very clear — when given a choice before 9/11, she voted to cut intelligence," said Conant in a written statement yesterday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Murray's Senate office issued a statement thanking former Republican Sen. Slade Gorton for his service on the commission and urging Congress to act in a "spirit of unity" on its recommendations.

A spokeswoman for Murray's campaign called Nethercutt's criticisms troubling.

"Today Senator Murray said we should build on the commission's spirit of unity to move forward and protect our nation. George Nethercutt's instinct was to make a political attack. That's a shame," said spokeswoman Alex Glass.

Murray's votes came at a time when some Democrats and Republicans in Congress were increasingly skeptical of the way intelligence agencies were spending taxpayer money. The largest Murray-backed cut singled out by Nethercutt was a budget amendment in 1994 that would have shifted $5.4 billion over five years from intelligence agencies to education and other federal programs. The proposal failed.

Nethercutt has represented Eastern Washington's 5th Congressional District since 1995 and is running an aggressive campaign to unseat Murray, who is seeking her third term.

In an interview, Nethercutt praised the Sept. 11 commission's work and said both parties should work together to protect the country. "Congress needs to step up and say, 'Intelligence isn't a partisan matter,' " Nethercutt said.

When asked about his campaign's attack on Murray, Nethercutt said, "Well, that wasn't my doing, (it) was my campaign's doing."

He then said it "wasn't a partisan attack, it's a matter of judgment." He added: "You should use common sense, and common sense is, you don't cut your intelligence services when you've got a threat of terrorism out there."
 
Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times staff reporter Jessica Blanchard contributed to this report.