March 1, 1996
Web posted at: 9:50 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With the Cold War over, the U.S. intelligence community needs a major overhaul, according to a bi-partisan commission report released Friday.
The commission recommends expanding the power of the CIA director and stripping the Pentagon of its authority to recruit spies. The report also suggested the CIA lacks direction and is too far removed from the policy-makers it is intended to serve.
"Intelligence agencies need better direction from the policy level," said the report from the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the U.S. Intelligence Community.
Key lawmakers said the commission's recommendations were significant, but only a starting point for even broader changes.
"It is certainly the starting point for some very significant changes in the U.S. intelligence community," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania. He questioned whether the commission's report went far enough.
Headed by former Defense Secretary Harold Brown and former Sen. Warren Rudman, the commission spent a year studying the intelligence community before releasing its report. The commission was established by Congress.
The move to redefine the role of the intelligence was prompted, in part, by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which for decades was the main target of intelligence efforts.
Key recommendations in the report:
Create two CIA deputy directors so the CIA director can spend more time on management of the overall intelligence units.
Transfer authority to recruit spies from the Pentagon to the CIA.
Make the intelligence budget public, but keep its details confidential.
Maintain capabilities to conduct covert operations. Also, the personnel in the CIA's covert operations should be rotated into other fields.
Create a national assessment center, outside CIA headquarters, to prepare intelligence estimates.
Create a committee on foreign intelligence within the National Security Council to provide guidance on major issues.
Whether any or all of the committee's recommendations will be implemented remained to be seen.
The Senate and House intelligence committees are conducting their own studies and will issue separate recommendations later this year.
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AP contributed to this report.
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