THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 2, 1995 TAG: 9509300021
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
To maintain credibility, the Republican revolution must show that its budget-balancing efforts are treating all government spending to equal scrutiny. But there is mounting evidence that simply isn't so. Intelligence is the latest instance.
While budget cuts of 20 percent are proposed for many programs and others are being zeroed out, the House recently voted to increase spending on intelligence for 1996. The precise numbers are classified, but spending for all intelligence activities runs around $30 billion.
It's impossible to justify more spending than at the height of the Cold War. Though threats are now more numerous, they aren't nearly as threatening as a hostile superpower with thousands of nuclear warheads aimed our way. Defense spending is way down, yet intelligence keeps sucking up dollars.
The secrecy of the programs, extending even to budget details, has made a robust debate impossible and oversight difficult. Take, for example, the case of the National Reconnaissance Organization. It's among the most secret of intelligence agencies, responsible for designing, procuring, launching and maneuvering our remarkable spy satellites. Its share of the intelligence budget is almost 25 percent - a whopping $7 billion a year.
During the Cold War there was some suspicion that NRO budget requests were gold-plated, but the need for and quality of the intelligence silenced critics and swept fiscal prudence away.
That was a mistake. It's now been revealed that NRO has squirreled away a slush fund of unspent money that amounts to $1 billion or more. The money may have helped finance a lavish four-building complex with 30 percent more office space than NRO needs.
CIA Director John Deutch has appointed a new finance officer for the organization, but the NRO's secret extravagance demands further investigation and deep cuts. The whole issue of intelligence funding should be re-examined.
At a time when deficit-reduction efforts affect funding for schools, poor children and medical care for seniors, there's no justification for an agency getting increased funds while sitting on a secret pot of gold equal to 15 percent of its annual budget.
If the GOP wants to be entrusted with the task of reducing government, it's got to show it's willing to do more than lead Democratic programs to the slaughter. It's got to take on sacred cows as well - and that means Defense Department pork like the B-2, Seawolf and Star Wars, corporate welfare and the bloated, gold-plated, too-secret-to-examine budgets of the intelligence agencies. by CNB