The Creation of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency: Congress's role as overseer / by Anne Daugherty Miles.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Miles, Anne Daugherty, author.

Contributor:

Joint Military Intelligence College (U.S.), issuing body.

Series:

Occasional paper (Joint Military Intelligence College (U.S.)) ; no. 9.

Occasional paper ; number nine

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

United States.

Intelligence service--United States.

Intelligence service.

Legislative oversight--United States.

Legislative oversight.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 107 pages).

Other Title:

Congress's role as overseer

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Joint Military Intelligence College, 2002.

Summary:

The present monograph may be characterized as a case study of Congress's role as overseer of the U.S. Intelligence Community. A case study can follow an intelligence issue in Congress, offering a perspective to illustrate the human dynamics of the decisionmaking process. Thus, a case study offers the advantage of depth and detail, but only one case does not provide a basis for generalization. Unfortunately, in-depth case studies of congressional decisionmaking on intelligence issues are too few to offer a theoretical context for this decisionmaking. The case study presented here illustrates the combination of personality and process that resulted in the establishment of NIMA in 1996. It highlights the role of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and how those committees interact with other committees most specifically the Armed Services Committees. It augments the few good sources that exist on this very narrow subject. Any generalizations based on this one case should be made with care. It is important to recognize the fact that congressional members and staffers take their oversight responsibilities very seriously. The creation of NIMA was an executive branch proposal that was scrutinized from every angle on the Hill. The concerns of a myriad of interested parties were all funneled into 13 different congressional committees. The beauty of Congress is its ability to weigh the merits of a host of special interests in a way that satisfies a majority of its members and hopefully results in good public policy. In its role as overseer it must be skeptical, demanding justification for each and every proposal. To continue its role as overseer, to stay a part of the process, "to have a seat at the table," congressional committees must have jurisdiction over an executive branch agency or program. As may be seen in this case, jurisdictional concerns were paramount largely because Members sincerely wanted to play a part in guiding NIMA's evolution over time.

Notes:

"April 2002."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 103-105).

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (Joint Military Intelligence College, viewed on July 21, 2023).

OCLC:

318682743