______________________________________________________________________ Long Distance Free Call when you switch to AT&T for free ______________________________________________________________________ Clinton to sign bill restructuring intelligence-gathering __________________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 1996 Nando.net Copyright © 1996 The Associated Press

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (Oct 5, 1996 4:54 p.m. EDT) -- 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.

Translation: now that we're no longer using Communism as the standard threat to justify stuff, we'll use terrorism et al.

The bill:

--Gives the FBI power to subpoena local telephone records.

Remind me to use pay phones.

--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.

Senate confirmation will _prevent_ political influence? [...]

"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 at Clinton's pre-debate retreat.

Still, the bill presents a diminished version of reforms lawmakers sought after scandals involving CIA activities in Guatemala, misspending by the National Reconnaissance Office and years of espionage by former CIA officer Aldrich Ames.

Copyright © 1996 Nando.net