Hoekstra: Syria evidence reaches Congress too late

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on Thursday criticized the Bush administration for briefing the full panel too late on evidence that North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear reactor.

{mosads}Hoekstra, who said he and Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) had received the information previously, told reporters that he had “forcefully argued” with the administration to brief the entire panel so that Congress can fulfill its oversight responsibilities.

“It happened today,” the lawmaker said. “It happened eight months later than what it should have been.

“I really believe on an issue that is this critical to the issue of proliferation, to the situation in the Middle East, to what's going on in the six-party talks, and these types of things, Congress needed this information to be a full partner in those efforts,” Hoekstra added.

The Republican lawmaker stated that “a trusting environment between the administration and Congress,” which he deems necessary to tackle international problems, “does not exist.”

Reyes said the challenge with the Bush administration is that there is “a veil of secrecy” that stands in the way of allowing Congress to provide oversight.

Hoekstra added that “many people believe that we were used today by the administration” and that the panel received the briefing “not because they felt they had to inform Congress because it was their legal obligation to do that, but because they had other agendas in mind.”

By keeping Congress out of the loop, Hoekstra argued, the administration has made it more difficult to get any negotiated agreements with countries like North Korea approved.