The goal, she said, “is not to end national security programs but to make sure they’reīy all accounts, the 2007 law gives the board genuine clout. Proposed in Congress include a formal role for the board and said it is long since time for the board to go to work. Sharon Bradford Franklin, senior counsel at The Constitution Project, which advocates for civil liberties in Washington, noted that cybersecurity bills “My hope is they’ll follow up with the chairman.” That at least a majority of the board is confirmed,” he said. Medine appears to be a qualified and not unduly partisan choice, and that further delay is unacceptable. Kean, a Republican, said he hoped that was not his party’s strategy. One theory circulating in Washington is that the delay is Republican strategy: if Mitt Romney becomes presidentĪnd the job is not yet filled, he will be able to appoint a member of his party to a six-year term as chairman. Medine is uncertain two of the confirmed board members said they hadĪgreed not to comment for the time being. So whether the board can begin its work without Mr. The chairman is the board’s only full-time member and has the authority to hire a staff. Wald, a retired federal judge.īut because of the objection of unnamed senators, it took no action on the board’s full-time chairman, David Medine, a Democrat and lawyer who long worked at the Federal Trade Commission and now is working temporarilyĪt the Securities and Exchange Commission while awaiting Senate action. Dempsey, vice president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, and Patricia M. Chamber of Commerce Īnd two Democrats, James X. Brand, chief counsel for regulatory litigation at the U.S. Cook, a lawyer at WilmerHale, and Rachel L. Last week, the Senate confirmed four of the five members - two Republicans, Elisebeth C. He finally completed the nominations in December. But for nearly three years after taking office, President Obama did not even nominate a full slate of five members to the reconstituted board. That year, heeding the complaints, Congress passed new legislation strengthening the board and removing it from the White House. Davis, emphasized when he resigned in protest in 2007. Critics noted that since it was then technically part of the White House, it could hardly be considered independent - a point aĭemocratic member, Lanny J. The board got off to a slow start initially and held its first meeting in 2006. Kean, who has testified repeatedly to Congress about the need to get a strong board up and running. “It’s just been a total frustration,” said Mr. Political squabbles, it has been out of business altogether for five years. Neglected by the Bush and Obama administrations and hampered by Over most of the eight years since it was formally established, the board has rarely functioned at all, let alone proven to be an aggressive watchdog. It’s probablyįair to say that few governmental bodies have had a more troubled childhood than this one. Thus began a long, sad story - one quite relevant to The Agenda’s look at the balance of security and civil liberty. Very strongly that there had to be some voice for civil liberties in the debate.” Kean, chairman of the 9/11 commission and former governor of New Jersey, in an interview. “We thought everything with a national security label on it was going to pass,” said Thomas H. A closer look at big issues facing the country in the 2012 Election.Įconomy, Planet, Security, World and Health.
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