WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- U.S. lawmakers are critical of America's intelligence tsar for refusing to cooperate with a GAO review.
The refusal of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte to cooperate with a Government Accountability Office review of dozens of agencies' information sharing efforts is causing a stir on Capitol Hill, GovExec.com reported Wednesday.
Negroponte's lack of cooperation was one of the issues addressed by the GAO in a report issued April 17 on how agencies share sensitive information among counter-terrorism operatives. The report, listed as GAO-06-385, called for less restriction of "sensitive but unclassified" data.
"It takes leadership with someone from the administration," said Rep. Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minn., who is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee. Sabo went on to single out Negroponte as a potential catalyst for change, saying it is within his control -- and his responsibility -- to put an end to "massive overclassification" of data.
Legislation that will force unification of data codes and interdepartmental sharing is unlikely, Sabo added.
The report also spread criticism from the Office of Management and Budget and the Homeland Security Department -- initially responsible for information-sharing policies -- to Negroponte for failing to meet deadlines to improve how dozens of agencies share counter-terrorism information, GovExec.com said.
OMB, the report stated, agreed to collaborate if necessary after Negroponte's office finishes its work on the policies. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence refused to comment to GAO.
"I was disappointed to see that the ODNI declined to respond to GAO's report," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in a statement. "The ODNI should cooperate with its efforts so that Congress can be better informed as it works to help protect the nation against terrorism."
