U.S. spy overhaul is biggest since '47

WASHINGTON — If the new U.S. intelligence system the House approved Tuesday had been in place on Sept. 11, 2001, the al-Qaida hijackers might have been in foreign countries — or in custody — instead of in the cockpits of airliners careening toward the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

That, at least, is the theory behind the most significant restructuring of the U.S. intelligence system since the creation of the CIA in 1947. Making America safer from terrorist attack is the promise behind the intelligence bill the Senate is scheduled to vote on today. Approval would send it to President Bush for his signature. Whether the bill will make the nation safer is still a matter of debate.

The measure, which creates a powerful director of national intelligence who would wrest much budget control from the Pentagon to watch over 15 spy agencies, passed 336-75.

On Tuesday, the 63rd anniversary of another surprise attack, the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor, Sen. Jay

Rockefeller, D-W.Va., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, came as close as anyone to making the promise explicit.

"There's a very good chance that had the bill (been in effect) . . . we might have had a chance not to go through the horrible experience that we did on Sept. 11th," Rockefeller said. "Those who think this bill is just another layer of bureaucracy or moving the boxes around . . . are really wrong."

Here's how the measure attempts to meet the shortcomings brought to light by the 9/11 Commission's investigation of the intelligence failures leading up to the attacks:

• Problem: The CIA was forbidden from tracking foreign terrorism suspects once they entered the United States and delayed telling the FBI what it knew about two suspects who later became hijackers. Solution: Create a director of national intelligence with sweeping powers over both foreign and domestic intelligence, and a National Counterterrorism Center to track foreign and domestic threats; require information-sharing between the CIA and other intelligence agencies, FBI and local law enforcement.

• Problem: The 9/11 hijackers used false documents to get legitimate driver's licenses, which helped with air travel. Solution: Require states to establish minimum identification standards for obtaining a license.