Iowa Congressman says Tenant’s resignation could be time for change

Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell says the resignation of C-I-A Director George Tenant Thursday is a chance to make another review of the way the intelligence community operates. Boswell, a democrat, is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.He says he sees Tenant’s departure perhaps as an opportunity to reexamine the structure of our intelligence system. He says quite a few people on the committee have been working on a plan of reforms — including the establishment of a Director of National Intelligence to coordinate the efforts of the intelligence communities.Boswell credits Tenant for his seven years of service that began in the Clinton administration. Boswell says he’s worked closely with Tenant and says on a personal level he feels badly that personal reasons have forced Tenant to resign and says he wishes him well in dealing with those problems. Boswell admits Tenant’s time was rocky. He says some of the largest failures of the intelligence system in our nation’s history, the prevention September 11th and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, happened in Tenant’s tenure. Boswell says it’s important to remember that the failures are not the sole responsibility of one person, and can’t be fixed by replacing one person. He says it is fair to say that we have made significant changes to try and fix the system, but he says more needs to be done. Boswell says there are good candidates for the C-I-A job inside and outside the agency. He doesn’t think Tenant’s resignation will cause any lapses at a time when concerns over terrorist attacks are heightened. He says he thinks the agency will continue right on and he doesn’t think the nation has to worry. Boswell says it’s important and we should get “right on it” and get someone in the job.