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Politics

Pelosi calls for panel to oversee spy spending

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published December 15, 2006

WASHINGTON - House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi on Thursday recommended creating a House panel to examine U.S. spy agencies' actions and spending, a step toward adopting the proposals of the Sept. 11 commission.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said the panel would "protect the American people with the best possible intelligence, recognizing the role that Congress plays in all of this."

It also would shake up long-standing power structures in Congress.

The Select Intelligence Oversight Panel would be part of the powerful Appropriations Committee and would draw its membership from that spending committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence.

Through a series of hearings, it would examine the president's intelligence budget, prepare the classified details to the annual defense spending bill and conduct oversight of the use of appropriated funds by intelligence agencies.

Pelosi's proposal does not follow the exact recommendation of the Sept. 11 commission. But it moves closer to the overhaul recommended two years ago when the commission found weaknesses in how Congress monitors the 16 intelligence agencies.

Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who will lead House Republicans next year, was lukewarm about the proposal. "I appreciate the incoming speaker's efforts to reach out to Republicans in hopes of continuing to improve congressional oversight of America's intelligence systems," he said in a statement.

[Last modified December 15, 2006, 01:00:58]