Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
John O. Brennan, the White House's choice to lead the C.I.A., testifying last month during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday voted 12 to 3 to confirm John O. Brennan as director of the Central Intelligence Agency after the White House agreed to provide more information on the legal basis for targeted killings of Americans abroad who are believed to pose a terrorist threat.
Christopher Gregory/The New York Times
Senator Dianne Feinstein after a committee vote Tuesday on John O. Brennan's nomination.
The vote, in a closed committee meeting, showed that there was substantial bipartisan support for Mr. Brennan, a 25-year C.I.A. veteran who has most recently been President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser and has overseen the expansion of strikes by the C.I.A. and the military in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
The three no votes were cast by Republicans, including the vice chairman, Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. Four Republicans voted in favor of confirmation. Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said he would filibuster the nomination after receiving a letter from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that declined to rule out lethal drone strikes in the United States in "extraordinary circumstances" like a "catastrophic attack" along the lines of Pearl Harbor or Sept. 11, 2001. But it appeared likely that the nomination would get the 60 votes required to end the filibuster, possibly as early as Thursday.
While Mr. Brennan, 57, has been widely expected to win confirmation, senators of both parties have used his nomination to try to pressure the White House into disclosing information it has previously declined to give Congress.
They have had some success. On Tuesday morning, the committee's Democratic chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, said the White House had agreed to give the committee access to all Justice Department legal opinions on the targeted killing of Americans. Two such opinions were briefly shared with senators at the time of Mr. Brennan's confirmation hearing last month; officials said the remaining two were made available on Tuesday.
But the administration withheld the opinions governing strikes targeting non-Americans that the committee has also sought, arguing that they are confidential legal advice to the president. As a result, the detailed legal rules for a vast majority of drone strikes, including so-called signature strikes aimed at suspected militants whose names are unknown to the people targeting them, remain secret even from the Congressional intelligence committees.
For their part, Republicans have pressed for more details on the administration's response to the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in September, which killed the American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans. The committee has been given additional Benghazi material as well, though not enough to satisfy some Republicans.
In addition, a staff member for each senator was also permitted to see the secret Justice Department memorandums that govern the use of drones and other weapons to kill American citizens identified as dangerous terrorists overseas. Previously, only senators themselves had been allowed to read the memos, a restriction that Ms. Feinstein had strongly protested, staff members said.
But Ms. Feinstein complained after the vote that the committee still had not been allowed to retain the memos for study and reference. "They brought them for review, and they took them away," she told reporters. "Committee staff should be able to look at them and take notes." Without a copy to refer to, she said, "It's easy to forget the particulars."
Three senators who had demanded all of the memos on killing Americans — Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado, both Democrats, and Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican — said they were pleased with the agreement and supported Mr. Brennan's confirmation.
"We believe that this sets an important precedent for applying our American system of checks and balances to the challenges of 21st-century warfare," the three said in a statement.
They said the next step should be "to bring the American people into this debate and for Congress to consider ways to ensure that the president's sweeping authorities are subject to appropriate limitations, oversight and safeguards."
In an interview, Mr. Wyden said: "I think this debate is just beginning. The nature of warfare has changed so dramatically. The rules with respect to targeted killing, I think, do need to be made public."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
John Brennan, C.I.A. Nominee, Clears Committee Vote
Dengan url
https://homepageglobal.blogspot.com/2013/03/john-brennan-cia-nominee-clears.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
John Brennan, C.I.A. Nominee, Clears Committee Vote
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
John Brennan, C.I.A. Nominee, Clears Committee Vote
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar