WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) -- U.S. intelligence agencies would make public how much they spend every year on spying under a bill approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The spending bill would also require the Central Intelligence Agency to issue a report examining why it did not prevent the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, The New York Times reported.
Another measure in the bill, which would direct President George Bush to give Congress his daily briefings on Iraq for the six years before the war, was opposed by the top Republican on the committee and could lead to a veto of the bill.
Estimates of total U.S. spending on spy programs are in the $44 billion to $48 billion range annually, the Times reported.
Critics of disclosing the figure say it could lead to revealing more information, but proponents of disclosure said the total figure is of greater interest to U.S. taxpayers than to those being spied on, the Times reported.
The spy bill, which was approved behind closed doors, would also direct a satellite spying agency to change its strategy, the newspaper reported.
