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Intelligence committee urged to explain if they withheld crucial NSA document
- malandrew 13y agoWith respect to national security, it's very clear that our elected representatives are split into two groups: a handful that know what is going on and all the rest that are kept in the dark. There is no way that the members of Congress kept in the dark can possibly represent the interests of their constituents on these issues. This alone should be very worrying to everyone. I would imagine that most Americans were under the impression that being elected to Congress came with it the right to know a lot more about what is going on with respect to national security than they actually do. I never would have guessed that there we effectively have a praetorian class within Congress. A few questions arise from this situation: (1) What percentage of Congress is kept in the dark on these issues? (2) Are there any other areas besides surveillance and national security over which Congress governs which is also operating with a few that know and many that are in the dark? I'm not talking about issues where a member of congress is willingly unaware because they don't educate themselves or read the bills and reports related to that area, but where the Congress person does not even have permission to view the information. (3) Are there any provisions in place to prevent or at least mitigate a revolving door between the committees and the agencies they are supposed to provide oversight over? Out of curiosity, how does a member of the house or senate get on the Intelligence Subcommittee? Do the members of the committee choose who gets to join? Does the process allow for those who are likely to dissent or have an adversarial position to join the committee?