Transcript
JAMES STEINBERG: Good morning and welcome to Brookings. This morning, we're going to talk about one of the issues of the hour that doesn't involve photo ops, but does involve the questions of policy of the long-term security of the country, which is the debate over intelligence reform.
It's obviously a critical time in that debate right now as the political forces gather and the Congress begins to grapple with a variety of proposals that have been put forward, beginning with the 9/11 Commission's proposals; a variety of different views coming out of Congress; we're now beginning to see the Administration's own proposals; and a debate going forward not only on the specific contours of what should be in any legislation on intelligence, but, perhaps a question before that, which is: Is this the right time to do it? Are we rushing into something that requires more time?
I think we're seeing a real framing of the debate now, between the 9/11 Commission, which has become very active in pushing its own proposals and arguing that this is a critical moment, that we need to act and act quickly. And, as we saw earlier this week, a number of former senior officials who are arguing that this is a tricky, dangerous set of propositions that require careful study.
And, so, we're going to have a chance this morning to examine the contours of this debate, both in terms of what the proposals are; what needs to be done; what the risk are; what the choices are and how they would affect not only the intelligence community itself, but the broader question of American foreign policy and national security policy decision making.
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