GOP: Politics Blocking Survey of Spy Units
GOP Says Politics Blocking Oversight of Spy Agencies; Democrats Say Bush Must Be Accountable
By KATHERINE SHRADER
WASHINGTON Mar 3, 2006 (AP)— Stifling partisanship is preventing the Senate Intelligence Committee from overseeing the nation's spy agencies, the Senate's Republican leadership says.
But the top Senate Democrat says the Republican-controlled panel is falling down on its responsibility to hold the Bush administration accountable.
The arguments, in an exchange of letters Friday, came four days before the intelligence committee was scheduled to discuss whether to open a full-blown inquiry into the National Security Agency's U.S.-based monitoring operations.
West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the committee's top Democrat, has proposed 13 specific areas to be reviewed. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has resisted starting an in-depth review.
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http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1685274