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Heated Issue. Under the present law, six committees on the Hill (three in the Senate and three in the House) are charged with overseeing intelligence operations. Their oversight has been infrequent and ineffectual. Yet their chairmen are reluctant to share any power. In addition, Church and his allies face another problem as they try to push through their proposals: growing apathy. Because the whole process has taken so long, and so much has been written and said, controlling the CIA is no longer a heated political issue. The substantial reforms initiated by Ford, the CIA and the Department of Justice have also eased the pressure.
There is, finally, a real fear among some Senators that a committee so powerful and fully informed could do profound damage if it sprang any leaks. Last week the Senate Rules Committee voted 5 to 4 against proposals by the Church committee to set up a new watchdog unit to keep an eye on the intelligence agencies. But the fight is not over yet. This month Church plans to carry the struggle to the floor of the Senate, where he feels the younger liberals in both parties may help him carry the day. The "crucial" element of reform, says Church, is a committee that can pass on the CIA's budget and learn about its planned covert activities in advance. Adds Minnesota's Walter Mondale, chairman of the subcommittee on domestic operations: "In the past, Congress has been able to excuse its lack of vigilance on the grounds that it didn't know [what was happening]. Now it does. And if we know it and don't do anything about it, then we're really saying, 'O.K., let 'er rip.' "