WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- President Bush on Friday authorized CIA Director George Tenet to resume briefings with members of Congress after he received a telephone call from the chairmen of the Select Intelligence committees saying reforms had been implemented to protect sensitive information.
The call came from Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla.; and Rep. Porter J. Goss, R-Fla., according to White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.
"I have assured the president that we take our responsibility very seriously. We have taken steps to impress upon our members the need to safeguard classified information," said Graham. Congressional leaders declined to detail the reforms made.
The president had restricted disclosure of classified intelligence information to eight members of the congressional leadership in an angry Oct. 5 memo after classified intelligence information was leaked to the media. But by Wednesday, he had reversed his decision after an outcry from a both angry and contrite Congress.
Typically, the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, as well as the House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have clearance for classified briefings.
Those committees have immediate responsibility for overseeing -- and authorizing funds for -- military activities and foreign relations. Leaders of those committees were not included in the eight members Bush said would stay in the loop on sensitive briefings.
The first indication that the president had changed his mind about limiting who received the highly sensitive intelligence information came late Tuesday afternoon after Bush met with Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Jesse Helms, R-N.C., the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Reps. Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill., and Tom Lantos, D-Calif., both from the House International Relations Committee.
It was then that Lantos said he explained to Bush that constitutional law requires the president to brief members of Congress, even during war. Congress has a duty to oversee the executive branch, Lantos pointed out. It was then that Bush told them the circle of congressional leaders allowed access would be widened.
White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan told United Press International that the president realized a memo did not supercede law.
The next morning he met with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.; House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert, R-Ill.; and House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo. It was then he told lawmakers that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would continue to brief members of the House Armed Services Committee and the Secretary of State would continue to provide information to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The White House would not comment on any particular news reports that precipitated the memo. Republicans in Congress however said Bush reacted to an Oct. 5 report in The Washington Post about a security briefing delivered to Congress.
According to that report, administration officials reportedly predicted a "100 percent" chance of future terror attack if the U.S. strikes Afghanistan. Some lawmakers said privately that sensitive news reports that appear to originate in Congress often come from the administration. The Post story cites "sources familiar with the briefing."
