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June 19, 2007
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: Opening Statement at Hearing on the Nomination of John A. Rizzo to be General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency
Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV
Today the Committee meets to consider the nomination of John Rizzo to be General Counsel to the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Rizzo has worked in government service his entire career, and has spent the last 31 years at the Central Intelligence Agency. Starting as an attorney in the CIA’s Operations and Management Law Division in 1976, Mr. Rizzo moved through a variety of offices within the Office of General Counsel.
He also spent a year and a half in the CIA’s Office of Inspector General, and more than two years in the CIA’s Office of Congressional Affairs, where he was responsible for coordinating CIA communications with the congressional committees investigating the Iran/Contra Affair. In March of 1995, he was named Senior Deputy General Counsel.
John Rizzo has twice served as Acting General Counsel when the General Counsel position became vacant: once from November of 2001 to October of 2002, and again from August of 2004 to today.
Mr. Rizzo, we would like to thank you for your long government service.
To understand why we are here today, it is important that we look at both at the responsibilities of the CIA and the historical role of the CIA’s General Counsel. The CIA’s intelligence capabilities help us protect what we hold as fundamental to the American way of life.
Yet, even with today’s great and immediate intelligence challenges, the CIA must constantly reaffirm the American principles of commitment to law, integrity and accountability. The CIA’s General Counsel is at the heart of this balancing act.
Although the person selected to fill this position has only required the advice and consent of the Senate since 1996, key committees have long recognized the importance of having an independent General Counsel who has the backing of Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation.
In 1976, the Church Committee recognized the “extraordinary responsibilities” of the CIA’s General Counsel to ensure that CIA activities are consistent with the Constitution and law of the United States. The Church Committee therefore recommended that the CIA General Counsel be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to protect the General Counsel’s “independence of judgment.”
In 1987, the Iran-Contra Committees concluded that the abuses of Iran-Contra stemmed in part from the misguided perception of certain government officials that worthy ends could justify violations of law. The Iran-Contra Committees rejected this notion, and instead recommended strengthening the role of CIA General Counsel by requiring Senate confirmation.
Congress ultimately acknowledged the importance of having a Senate confirmed General Counsel in 1996. In amending the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, Congress accepted the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report that the confirmation process enhances accountability and strengthens the oversight process.
Over a decade later, today’s hearing is timely in addressing the difficult issues of “accountability” and “oversight.” As a country, we are struggling to find equilibrium between fighting terrorism and protecting the liberties and rule of law that define us a nation.
On the one hand, we do not want to deny CIA officers the tools they need to do their job. On the other, we must recognize that democracy and American values are at risk if we fail to live up to our ideals.
The weight of this balance falls heavily on the shoulders of the General Counsel. As the CIA’s activities are largely carried out in secret, the General Counsel often makes legal decisions without the benefit of public debate or the constraints of public scrutiny. By necessity, the public must therefore trust that the person in that position will ensure that CIA’s activities are consistent with both the spirit and letter of the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Our country must have faith that the intelligence professionals working to defend us have a General Counsel who defends them by ensuring that they receive lawful guidance. However difficult it may be to draw legal lines, it cannot be those on the front lines who suffer from legal uncertainty. Equally so, it is those officers who suffer when the institutional integrity of the Agency is weakened by questionable legal decisions. Public trust and professional respect are earned by navigating these difficult paths.
Ensuring that the CIA follows the law is important to protect not just the CIA and its intelligence officers, but also to protect the image of the United States. Our international security depends on upholding our ideals upon a world stage.
Although the Attorney General—through the Department of Justice and the Office of Legal Counsel—is ultimately responsible for the legal decisions of the Executive Branch, the CIA’s General Counsel has a responsibility to the CIA as an institution that the Attorney General does not share. The CIA’s General Counsel cannot simply rely on others to make those legal decisions. The General Counsel must make independent, sound legal assessments to determine what will best serve the CIA over the years to come. This Committee has a duty to make sure that the nominee sitting at that desk has the qualities necessary to fill this important role.
Mr. Rizzo, we look forward to hearing your views about both past challenges and CIA’s future conduct. Your stewardship during recent years as the Acting General Counsel provides you with a unique insight into the position.
Following the open session, we will further explore the Office of General Counsel’s role in important matters in recent years in the closed portion of this hearing.
The Committee has received letters of support for Mr. Rizzo’s nomination from a number of his colleagues over the years, including former CIA General Counsels Anthony Lapham and Jeffrey Smith. Mr. Lapham, who sadly passed away last year, served as CIA General Counsel in the mid-1970s, and saw the CIA through the Church Committee’s investigation of its activities. Mr. Smith served as CIA General Counsel from 1995 to 1996, and has since been actively involved in the public debate on intelligence issues. We also received a letter expressing concern about Mr. Rizzo’s nomination from Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, and the Open Society Policy Center. I ask for unanimous consent that these letters be placed into the record.
Without objection, it is so ordered.
I now recognize Vice Chairman Bond.
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