A Drug War Boondoggle
The White House wants to kill it, but a little government agency may manage to live on
Either way, the White House appears to have had it with the NDIC. In its budget report, the Office of Management and Budget says "the proliferation of intelligence centers across the government has not necessarily led to more or better intelligence, but rather more complications in the management of information." For the Johnstown center, it's an ironic coda, then, that the White House is simultaneously supporting a new program--the multiagency Drug Intelligence Fusion Center. Blessed by the DEA, the fusion center will be located in the Washington area. It has already received $25 million from Congress in start-up costs and is slated to open its doors later this year. The idea that a different agency can do the job the NDIC failed to do has left some shaking their heads. "You have to ask, 'What is the master plan?'" said a former official in the office of the drug czar. "The answer is there is no master plan." Proponents say the new agency will succeed because its location makes sense.
That doesn't mean the NDIC is finished. It has supporters in state and local law enforcement, and even some federal officials have come to respect its document exploitation division. The NDIC's biggest supporter, though, is Murtha. "I can assure employees that the NDIC won't be closed," he said in a public statement after Bush's budget was released. While Murtha is no longer chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, he remains the ranking Democrat and a backroom dealer with few equals. In the Senate, Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter will fight to keep the center open from his seat on the Appropriations Committee. The showdown could come as soon as next month, when appropriations subcommittees begin tackling the budget.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Johnstown center's death may be premature. "Barring another flood," says a former law-enforcement official, "I doubt you'll see it go anywhere."
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