CARL LEUBSDORF Bureaucracy won't defeat terrorism

The selection of John Negroponte as the first national intelligence director is the latest sign that the Bush administration has begun to make changes to improve the government's chance of meeting future terrorist threats.
Despite initial resistance, the White House allowed an independent commission to study mistakes made before the 9-11 attacks, created a Department of Homeland Security and accepted the commission's proposal for an intelligence czar.
Ironically, Negroponte's nomination must be confirmed by a Senate that has been far slower in adapting its institutions to meet the terrorist threat.
Innate institutional resistance has limited efforts to restructure Congress and its committees to deal more efficiently with homeland security and intelligence. This is true despite signs that lawmakers were as negligent as the executive branch in anticipating the terrorist threat.
Indeed, some reform advocates fear the drive is being undercut by complacency from the lack of follow-up terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland.
"Most people have forgotten 9-11 in terms of an urgency of doing anything," former Attorney General Edwin Meese said at a panel sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank that has urged institutional changes.
"Business as usual is a recipe for disaster," warned Meese, a longtime adviser to former President Ronald Reagan.
The problem on Capitol Hill is exemplified by the fact that more than 80 committees and subcommittees have jurisdiction over homeland security issues. The former secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, said he spent 40 percent of his time testifying before various panels.
In recent weeks, both houses have sought to correct this problem, but -- at best -- progress has been limited.
The House has created permanent homeland security authorizing and spending panels. The Senate has left homeland security issues divided among several committees, though its newly renamed Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has more authority than the others.
No term limits
The Senate did recognize the complexity of intelligence issues by waiving term limits for its Intelligence Committee, which will consider Negroponte's nomination next month. That allows members to acquire expertise without fear they will lose it when they have to give up their places.
But the $20 billion annual intelligence budget still comes under defense appropriations subcommittees that also handle the far more costly defense items, such as weapons systems and Iraq.
Former Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, the Democratic co-chair of the 9-11 commission, said he asked a member of the Senate panel how much time it spends on the intelligence budget. "About 10 minutes," the member replied.
In addition, Hamilton told the AEI seminar, lawmakers operate at a distinct disadvantage because security rules preclude them from taking the massive volumes outside the hearing room.
Another area in which no real progress has been made is filling large-scale vacancies in the event of a terrorist attack. The scenario is not so far-fetched, given the fact that the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, reportedly was headed for the Capitol.
The Constitution permits temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies but requires the House to have special elections, which often take many weeks.
A proposed constitutional amendment by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn would provide alternative means for governors to fill vacancies, including temporary appointments, possibly from lists provided by current members.
But the House leadership objected and won endorsement of its position by orchestrating an overwhelming vote against a measure allowing temporary appointment of House members. It then passed a rival bill requiring special elections within 45 days.
That's hardly going to solve the problem that could occur if a terrorist attack hit the Capitol while both houses were in session. And it won't be resolved by the selection and confirmation of an intelligence czar, however able and qualified Negroponte is.
X Carl P. Leubsdorf is Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune.