Iran-Contra Hearings - Testimony of Colonel Oliver North.
Iran-Contra Hearings - Testimony of Colonel Oliver North.
Iran-Contra Hearings - Testimony of Colonel Oliver North.
Iran-Contra Hearings - Testimony of Colonel Oliver North.
Senator David Boren. (D-Oklahoma)-So we have to have covert actions. We have to have accountability. And we also have to have a sharing of information between at least the leaders of the Congress and the White House if we are going to rebuild this kind of bipartisan unified approach. Now I would just like to ask you, as we consider how we conduct foreign policy especially covert operations that have to be kept secret. How do we do that while preserving the Democratic values and institutions that we hold so dear? And do you think we are on the right track to develop this relationship of absolute candor and trust between the executive branch and the intelligence committees of both the House and Senate? Colonel Oliver North-Well as you have described them Senator Boren, I agree with the noble objectives. I think I have testified there too during my five and a half days here before you. I continue to be concerned at the size of the committees. I think the larger the group of the people involved, the larger the staffs, the more likely it is that we will end up with a compromise. And it certainly while the provisions of the law only allow the big eight to be notified, it would be by my opinion appropriate. We ve got experience in working with the Congress and the executive branch of a joint committee and you know the one I m referring to. A very small, a very professional staff and a small committee who worked very closely with the administration on carrying out policy on nuclear matters. And my sense is that is an idea whose time has come. There is no doubt that we can do it better. And there is no doubt that there must be the ability to confer and to obtain the money that are necessary to conduct these activities.
Iran-Contra Hearings - Testimony of Colonel Oliver North.
Senator David Boren. (D-Oklahoma)-Well I agree largely with what you ve said. I m not sure I agree with a joint committee for this reason because of the appropriations process and other responsibilities. My fear is that committee might not have sufficient influence with the committees of the two houses to keep other committees involved from beginning invading the jurisdiction. We might end up inadvertently with more committees, several committees again asserting jurisdiction. But I think the important thing is we are compartmentalizing our staff, so that not even all the members of our staff known about these various operations. They only have knowledge of one or two operations on a need to know basis. I think the important thing though is to have this bi-partisan approach and partnership in the future, wouldn t you agree we have to concentrate on this method of consultation and the rebuilding of mutual trust between the two branches? Colonel Oliver North-I couldn t agree more Senator.
Iran-Contra Hearings - Testimony of Colonel Oliver North.
Senator David Boren. (D-Oklahoma)-One other item that has disturbed me is as I ve listened. And this perhaps grows out of my experience as a former governor. Occasionally people would call me on the phone when I was Governor, and say Governor we re getting ready to do something because we were told you wanted it done. But I just wanted to clear it with you because it didn t sound quite right. I just wanted to make sure. And sometimes those things that were getting ready to be done by someone in the bureaucracy were not things I wanted done at all. Somebody had simply come to those people and said the Governor wants this done. I didn t know about it.