ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610070086
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y.
SOURCE: Associated Press
President Clinton will sign a bill requiring modest changes in the U.S. intelligence community, despite the CIA director's objection to one of its provisions, officials said Saturday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the bill satisfies Clinton's desire to restructure intelligence-gathering agencies in light of post-Cold War threats.
The bill:
*Gives the FBI power to subpoena local telephone records.
*Authorizes the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency to collect data on foreign citizens for U.S. investigations.
*Requires Senate confirmation of the CIA's general counsel. That is meant to prevent political influence over a position designed to block illegal covert operations.
*Prohibits federal employment of senior intelligence officials for three years after their departure from government.
The bill also creates three new CIA assistant directors to oversee intelligence collection, analysis and administration. CIA Director John Deutch has called the positions an unnecessary layer of political appointees and promised to recommend that Clinton revise or eliminate the posts next year.
The president's decision, reported Saturday in The Washington Post, was not confirmed publicly by the White House, but press secretary Mike McCurry said the bill ``went a long way'' toward addressing Clinton's concerns.
``We want to see some new structures developed to take into account our need both to conserve resources, but also address some of the new threats and the new challenges we face in the world,'' McCurry told reporters.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB