

Intelligence committee urged to explain if they withheld crucial NSA document - ghosh
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/14/nsa-intelligence-committee-under-pressure-document

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malandrew
With respect to national security, it's very clear that our elected
representatives are split into two groups: a handful that know what is going
on and all the rest that are kept in the dark. There is no way that the
members of Congress kept in the dark can possibly represent the interests of
their constituents on these issues. This alone should be very worrying to
everyone. I would imagine that most Americans were under the impression that
being elected to Congress came with it the right to know a lot more about what
is going on with respect to national security than they actually do. I never
would have guessed that there we effectively have a praetorian class within
Congress.

A few questions arise from this situation:

(1) What percentage of Congress is kept in the dark on these issues?

(2) Are there any other areas besides surveillance and national security over
which Congress governs which is also operating with a few that know and many
that are in the dark? I'm not talking about issues where a member of congress
is willingly unaware because they don't educate themselves or read the bills
and reports related to that area, but where the Congress person does not even
have permission to view the information.

(3) Are there any provisions in place to prevent or at least mitigate a
revolving door between the committees and the agencies they are supposed to
provide oversight over?

Out of curiosity, how does a member of the house or senate get on the
Intelligence Subcommittee? Do the members of the committee choose who gets to
join? Does the process allow for those who are likely to dissent or have an
adversarial position to join the committee?

