White House View of Stalled Bill in Doubt By Charles Babington and Mike Allen Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, November 24, 2004; Page A04
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that the White House knew of a Pentagon letter that criticized key aspects of a now-stalled bill to revamp the nation's intelligence community. House Republicans who blocked the legislation said the comments bolster their claim that the administration's support of the measure has been tepid at best, and that prospects for a breakthrough are not strong. [SNIP] Rumsfeld said he stands with Bush in calling for the bill's passage. But his comments about Myers's letter -- which the White House has never disavowed -- appeared to undermine administration claims that Bush and Vice President Cheney have fought for passage of the measure, which would create a director of national intelligence. [SNIP] Privately, however, some White House officials continue to express a lack of enthusiasm for the bill. A senior administration official said officials were "attempting to assess the validity of reviving it sooner rather than later." A Republican official who has discussed the matter in detail with top West Wing officials, but declined to be further identified, said Bush and his aides "had to look like they're pushing the bill" but in fact would cry no tears for its demise. "No one in this administration wants to be held hostage to an external power like the 9/11 commission or the so-called 9/11 families," who support the House-Senate compromise, the official said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7858-2004Nov23.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Special thanks to the CF Community Suite Gold Sponsor - CFHosting.net http://www.cfhosting.net Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:137817 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
