Letter to President George W. Bush

August 3, 2004

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to seek your support and assistance in moving forward with legislation to make needed changes to the structure of our nation's Intelligence Community. We are co-sponsors of the "Intelligence Community Leadership Act of 2003," which was first introduced on January 16, 2003, legislation which we believe is a valuable starting point for this effort.

That legislation closely matches the recommendations recently made by the 9-11 Commission, most importantly by "splitting" the two jobs held by one person into two: a "Director of National Intelligence" to lead the Intelligence Community, and a "Director of the Central Intelligence Agency" to provide leadership for the CIA.

You announced yesterday your support for the creation of a Director of National Intelligence to oversee our Nation's intelligence agencies. In addition to this fundamental structural change, we agree with many of the Commissioners' most important recommendations concerning additional intelligence reform. We look forward to working with you in implementing these important reforms.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the legislation with you, and look forward to working together to address these critical issues.

Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Olympia Snowe
Senator Bob Graham
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Senator Ron Wyden