We have received recommendations on the topic of intelligence reform from
many sources. Other commissions have been over this same ground.Thought-
ful bills have been introduced, most recently a bill by the chairman of the
House Intelligence Committee Porter Goss (R-Fla.), and another by the rank-
ing minority member, Jane Harman (D-Calif.). In the Senate, Senators Bob
Graham (D-Fla.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have introduced reform pro-
posals as well. Past efforts have foundered, because the president did not sup-
port them; because the DCI, the secretary of defense, or both opposed them;
and because some proposals lacked merit.We have tried to take stock of these
experiences, and borrow from strong elements in many of the ideas that have
already been developed by others.
ligence should be replaced by a National Intelligence Director with
two main areas of responsibility: (1) to oversee national intelligence
centers on specific subjects of interest across the U.S. government and
(2) to manage the national intelligence program and oversee the
agencies that contribute to it.
whole government on major problems.
the National Counterterrorism Center we have proposed. It would
sit there alongside the operations management unit we described ear-
lier, with both making up the NCTC, in the Executive Office of the
President. Other national intelligence centers--for instance, on
counterproliferation, crime and narcotics, and China--would be
housed in whatever department or agency is best suited for them.
president will come to look directly to the directors of the national
intelligence centers to provide all-source analysis in their areas of
responsibility, balancing the advice of these intelligence chiefs against
the contrasting viewpoints that may be offered by department heads
at State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and other agencies.