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July
2004
Welcome
to the July edition of my Washington Report. I hope this
newsletter keeps you informed about some of the important
matters facing our State, our Nation, and the U.S. Senate.
In
this edition, I'll be addressing several of the major issues
that have been in the news lately, including:
- Senate
report on pre-war Iraq intelligence
- Stopping
a new nuclear race
- More
evidence of Enron profiteering
- Breast
Cancer Stamp surpasses Elvis
If
you have any comments or questions on these or any other
issues, please don't hesitate to let me know. I also welcome
your feedback on this newsletter and suggestions about ways
in which I can better communicate with my constituents.
Please
send any comments you have through my website.
Best
wishes,
U.S.
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senate
report on pre-war Iraq intelligence
The
Senate Intelligence Committee's report on pre-war Iraq intelligence
found that the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE)
and statements made by the Bush Administration to Congress
and the American people regarding Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction and ties to al-Qaida were inaccurate, deeply
flawed and just plain wrong. Because Iraq was the first
case of preemptive war by the United States, an important
lesson was learned. That lesson is that preemption is a
failed policy unless intelligence is accurate enough to
be actionable. In this case it was not.
Three
important judgments made by intelligence analysts were contained
in the NIE - all of them were faulty:
- Baghdad
has chemical and biological weapons.
- Baghdad
has begun renewed production of mustard, sarin, cyclosarin
and VX.
- Production
and weaponization of Iraq's offensive biological weapons
program were more advanced than they were before the Gulf
War.
The
bottom line is that neither the military examination of
more than a thousand priority sites nor the interim findings
of the Iraq Survey Group's Dr. David Kay, and his successor,
have produced evidence of weapons of mass destruction, the
weaponization of chemical or biological elements, or their
deployment to battlefield commanders.
 Failures
of this magnitude have made it clear that the Intelligence
Community needs to be restructured and its procedures need
to be redefined and improved under a new management structure.
To this end, I have proposed the establishment of a Director
of National Intelligence who would be a true head of our
15 intelligence agencies with both budgetary and statutory
authority (Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), right, Olympia
Snowe (R-ME), Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Jay Rockefeller
(D-WV), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Barbara Mikulski
(D-Md.) are co-sponsors of my legislation.) . Equipped
with meaningful budget and personnel authority, this Director
would provide the focused, independent and powerful leadership
the Intelligence Community badly needs.
To
view my comments on the Intelligence report and the conclusions
from the report, please go to: Senator
Feinstein Urges Reform of Intelligence Community (7/9/04)
Report
on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence
Assessments on Iraq - Conclusions (PDF Format)
Stopping
a new nuclear race
In its 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, which was leaked to
the media in 2002, the Bush Administration cited the need
to develop a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons,
blurring the lines between conventional and nuclear forces.
It is clear now that the Administration is pursuing this
through a ramp-up in funding for new nuclear weapons. The
Administration is determined to re-open the nuclear door
by developing and deploying a new generation of nuclear
weapons.
Development
of these new weapons, which include what are known as bunker
busters and mini-nukes, are a major departure from U.S.
policy and will only encourage the very nuclear proliferation
we seek to prevent. The Administration's policy of preemption
combined with its pursuit of new nuclear weapons will lead
to a renewed nuclear race that will ultimately make us less
safe.
At
the same time, the Administration has dragged its feet in
securing vulnerable nuclear materials, including highly-enriched
uranium and plutonium, at more than 100 nuclear facilities
around the world. A recent agreement with Russia to begin
the global cleanout of vulnerable nuclear materials marks
an important step forward, however, it is urgent that this
effort move expeditiously. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)
and I recently added an amendment to the Defense Authorization
bill to provide the Administration with the resources it
needs to clean up these materials at the earliest possible
time.
For
more information about my efforts to stop a new nuclear
arms race and prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, please
go to: Senators
Kennedy and Feinstein Seek to Eliminate Funding for Next
Generation of Nuclear Weapons (6/3/04)
Statement
of Senator Feinstein on the U.S./Russian Agreement to Keep
Nuclear Material from Terrorists (5/27/04)
Senate
Approves Domenici-Feinstein Amendment Seeking to Prevent
Terrorists from Obtaining Nuclear Materials (5/19/04)
More
evidence of Enron profiteering
 This
week's indictment of former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, right,
is welcome news to the millions of Californians who were
defrauded during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. On Thursday,
Lay was charged in U.S. District Court with conspiracy,
fraud, and making false statements to banks. He was also
charged separately by the Securities & Exchange Commission
with insider-trading.
After
the recent release of tapes in which Enron traders openly
mock California energy consumers it is now abundantly clear
that energy companies manipulated the energy market. That's
why I'm working to help Californians recoup some of the
$8.9 billion they lost during the energy crisis and to hold
these traders and executives accountable. I recently asked
the leadership of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources
Committee to hold additional Senate hearings into Enron's
manipulation of the Western energy markets. I've also called
on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to revoke
Enron's ability to sell energy on the market retroactive
to January 1, 2000. This move would force Enron to relinquish
$1.8 billion in profits it received since its market manipulation
began.
To
learn more about my efforts to hold Enron and other energy
profiteers accountable, please go to: Senators
Feinstein, Cantwell Call for Hearings on Western Energy
Market Manipulation (6/28/04)
Senator
Feinstein Calls on FERC to End Enron's Abuse of California
Ratepayers (6/18/04)
Senator
Feinstein Calls on FERC Chairman to Act Aggressively Against
Energy Profiteers (6/16/04)
Breast
Cancer Stamp surpasses Elvis
 As
of May 2004, 538.5 million Breast Cancer Research Stamps
have been sold, topping the previous record for a commemorative
stamp of 517 million set by the Elvis Presley stamp. These
record-setting sales have raised $38.2 million in vitally
important research funds and given hope to the millions
of Americans suffering with breast cancer.
Approximately
3 million women in the United States are currently living
with breast cancer, one million of whom have yet to be diagnosed.
One out of every 8 women will get breast cancer, just as
one out of every 6 men will have prostate cancer. Sadly,
the disease claims a woman's life every 13 minutes in the
United States.
I
want to thank the many Americans who have purchased these
stamps and urge you and others to keep buying them so that
we can continue to help researchers in the search for a
cure to this terrible disease.
To
learn more about the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, please
go to: Booklet:
The Breast Cancer Research Stamp
Breast
Cancer Research Stamp Outsells Elvis (6/2/04)
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