Eshoo Criticizes GOP 'Report' on Al-Qaeda
September 20, 2006
Eshoo Criticizes GOP 'Report' on Al-Qaeda
September 20, 2006
Washington, D.C. -- Rep. Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, criticized the release of a document on Wednesday by the Committee's Republican staff that purports to assess the threat posed by al-Qaeda and Islamic extremists.
"This paper tells us nothing new," said Eshoo, D-Palo Alto. "It's not a report on anything. It's a scrapbook of miscellaneous news clippings that doesn't add a shred of information about the threats we face or what our Committee is doing to address them.
"It raises issues the committee has not examined, such as whether new financial services laws have effectively limited terrorists' ability to raise funds. And it ignores issues the committee has focused on, such as the threat of Islamic radicalism inside our prisons.
"The public needs to know that this document came from the Committee's Republican staff. It's not the work of the full Intelligence Committee, nor does it reflect any expert analysis from the Intelligence Community. The Committee's job is to legislate and conduct oversight of intelligence programs, not to dabble in threat analysis.
"It's disappointing and disturbing that the Committee's Republican majority released this document over the objection of Committee Democrats. Our country is simultaneously engaged in a war, combating terrorism, and working to curb the spread of nuclear proliferation. Republicans and Democrats should be working together to improve our intelligence capabilities and protect national security."
The paper released Wednesday marks the second time in a month that the Republican majority has issued a questionable document prepared by its staff that is not the product of the full Intelligence Committee.
A similar Republican staff report in August on Iran's nuclear ambitions contained "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated statements," according to the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, which called parts of the document "outrageous and dishonest."