Hoekstra vows ‘aggressive oversight’ of Obama

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), the top Republican on the
Intelligence Committee, said Thursday that the “relationship between Congress
and the executive must change” to keep the country safe.

Hoekstra, who was reappointed this week as the ranking
GOP lawmaker on the panel, stressed that “Republicans in Congress stand ready
to work with President-elect Obama in a bipartisan manner to maintain and
strengthen America’s intelligence capabilities.”

{mosads}However, he also warned against the “gutting” of
intelligence programs and vowed that committee Republicans will “conduct
aggressive oversight of the Obama administration’s intelligence efforts and
encourage our Democratic colleagues to do the same.”

Hoekstra has been critical of the Bush administration on
some intelligence issues. He said the administration briefed Congress too late
on evidence that North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear reactor.

The lawmaker credited the intelligence community with standing
between the U.S. and another attack.

“We have fought to give America’s intelligence
professionals the tools they need to detect and prevent future attacks,”
Hoekstra said. “Experience has taught us that it is not a lack of desire on our
enemies’ part to attack America, our troops abroad and our allies; it is our
pursuit of the enemy and strong counterterrorism programs that have prevented
them.”