CIA departures concern Congress

By Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press

Jane Harman says CIA needs experienced staff.

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"The agency seems in free-fall in Washington, and that is a very, very bad omen in the middle of a war," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," Harman said she thought the reports of low morale at the agency were because of the four "inexperienced" House Intelligence Committee staff members who came to the CIA when Porter Goss, the committee's former chairman, became director of Central Intelligence in September.

"Many of us worked with that staff in the House," she said, describing the four as "highly partisan. ... Frankly, on both sides of the aisle in the committee, we were happy to see them go."

Harman said she thought Goss "deserves a chance to make changes at the CIA. But to do them effectively, he has to do them with an experienced staff, and he doesn't have one."

The director needs a management team that can improve the CIA without offending its staff or leading to "hemorrhages at the highest level of some talented people," she said.

The agency's No. 2 official has resigned, the deputy chief of the department in charge of clandestine operations is reportedly planning to leave this week and other resignations are said to be in the works. News reports have indicated that changes sparked by Goss have led to widespread discontent at the agency.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said yesterday on ABC's "This Week" that he thought Goss' efforts to shake up the agency were the right thing to do.

"This agency needs to be reformed," he said, adding that Goss was "on the right track. He is being savaged by these people that want the status quo. And the status quo is not satisfactory."

Harman, a member of the conference committee trying to negotiate a compromise between Senate and House versions of the intelligence bill, said the White House was working through the weekend to "try to force through a consensus."

Harman said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was an obstacle because he does not want to diminish the Pentagon's control over intelligence agencies' budgets.

"The president is our commander in chief," she said. "It is time, past time, for him to tell the secretary of defense to stand down on this issue so that the will of Congress and the 9/11 Commission can be implemented."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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