Brown Statement on Unconscionable Publication of Documents that Could Help Terrorists

AMHERST - U.S. Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today released the following statement regarding troubling reports that the Senate Intelligence Committee pushed to publish materials that experts described as a "road map" for terrorists and rogue nations looking to build nuclear weapons in a failed attempt to find evidence of WMD already proven not to exist.

"Senator DeWine missed nearly half of the public Intelligence Committee meetings and failed to read the National Intelligence Estimate for nearly six months, which made me question his commitment to keeping us safe," said Brown. "The news that he did nothing to prevent the publication of information that could help terrorists create a nuclear weapon makes me question his judgment. There's nothing intelligent about posting materials on the Internet that could aid terrorists, and it's appalling that the rationale for doing so was an attempt to prove the existence of WMD that weren't there. All Americans deserve better than Senators who put partisanship and PR schemes before keeping our country safe, which is why Ohioans are going to vote for a change next week."

CITATIONS

To read today's blockbuster New York Times story detailing the Intelligence Committee's posting of dangerous nuclear secrets, click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/world/middleeast/03documents.html
 
DEWINE ATTENDANCE RECORD

Over His Career, DeWine Missed Nearly Half of Public Meetings. 101 public committee meetings were held since 1995, when DeWine started his assignment on the committee. Of the 101 meetings, DeWine missed at least 48 of them. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]

DeWine Missed At Least 48 Public Meetings. DeWine missed public meetings of the Senate Intelligence Committee on 5/16/2006, 2/2/2006, 7/21/2005, 7/19/2005, 6/16/2005, 5/24/2005, 4/19/2005, 2/16/2005, 6/18/2003, 10/9/2002, 4/25/2002, 4/17/2002, 2/7/2001, 9/26/2000, 6/14/2000, 6/8/2000, 2/2/2000, 6/9/1999, 2/26/1999, 2/4/1999, 7/8/1998, 5/22/1998, 5/21/1998, 2/11/1998, 2/4/1998, 10/1/1997, 9/18/1997, 3/13/1997,12/11/1996, 12/4/1996, 11/26/1996, 10/23/1996, 9/25/1996, 9/5/1996, 8/1/1996, 7/17/1996, 6/19/1996, 5/23/1996, 5/21/1996, 3/27/1996, 3/19/1996, 2/28/96, 2/22/96, 9/20/1995, 8/9/1995, 6/21/1995, 6/14/1995, and 5/3/1995. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]

DeWine Ranks Among Worst for Attendance. During the 109th Congress, the combined attendance for DeWine's committee colleagues was 58%, while DeWine's attendance was a mere 33%. Only one member of the fifteen-member committee missed more meetings than DeWine. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]

DEWINE WAITED SIX MONTHS TO READ THE NIE

DeWine Admitted He Doesn't Read the Intel Reports.  The latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) found that Iraq has become the "cause celebre" for jihadists, and "says the Iraq war is breeding potential new terrorists."  However, despite being a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, DeWine did not read the report until this week even though he had access to it in April.   Moreover, DeWine dismissed the central finding of the document, saying, "This was not considered any kind of seminal or groundbreaking National Intelligence Estimate." DeWine added, "There's nothing of great significance in this report." He only read it "when it became a flash point this week."   [Plain Dealer, 9/28/06; NIE Key Findings, April 2006]

11/03/2006 / Permalink / National Security, (all tags)

“Empty Chair” Now on TV

We're taking "Empty Chair" to living rooms across Ohio with a statewide TV buy starting today. Watch the video that has everyone talking:

Read more about the ad. 

10/17/2006 / Permalink / National Security, Video, (all tags)

DeWine Stonewalls Releasing Intel Committee Records

Brown campaign puts "Empty Chair" on the air
 
AMHERST, OH - The Sherrod Brown for Senate campaign today announced that "Empty Chair," a video highlighting incumbent Republican Senator's Mike DeWine record of absence and failed oversight on the Intelligence Committee, would be put on the air in a statewide buy.  During and following Friday's Dayton debate, DeWine refused to release his attendance records on the Select Intelligence Committee.  Senator DeWine missed nearly 50 percent of public meetings of the Select Intelligence Committee throughout his career, before and after the war in Iraq began.  Committee sources say that DeWine has a similarly poor attendance record for classified meetings of the Committee, but DeWine refused to request that the Committee release those records.
 
The spot is available here: http://sherrodbrown.com/pages/empty_chair
 
"After he voted to go to war with Iraq over non-existent weapons of mass destruction, Ohioans deserve to how many Intelligence Committee meetings Senator DeWine missed and why," said Ben LaBolt, spokesman for Representative Brown.  "When Senator DeWine did show up to committee, he voted against investigating the false intelligence that sent our troops into battle.   Senator DeWine's record on the Intelligence Committee is marked by absences and failed oversight."
 
When asked after the debate if he would ask the Committee to ask his attendance records, DeWine said "We'll see."  "Empty Chair" challenges DeWine to release those records as Ohioans statewide continue to learn about his absences before and after the nation went to war.

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10/17/2006 / Permalink / National Security, (all tags)

New Video: DeWine’s Empty Chair

Click here to read more.

10/10/2006 / Permalink / National Security, Video, (all tags)

NEW VIDEO: DeWine Left Intel Seat Empty Before and After War

Campaign releases new web video: "Empty Chair"
 
AMHERST, OH -- The Sherrod Brown for Senate campaign today released a new web video to highlight incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine's record of absence and failed oversight on the Senate Intelligence Committee.  Spanning his career on the committee, DeWine missed nearly half of all public committee meetings and according to committee sources had a poor attendance record at classified meetings.
 
The video can be viewed here: http://sherrodbrown.com/pages/empty_chair
 
"When the security of our nation was at stake before and after the U.S. went to war, Mike DeWine did not show up for duty," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Representative Brown.
 
While he missed nearly half of all public meetings of the committee, including hearings where CIA Director George Tenet warned of the threat Osama bin Laden posed to the United States, DeWine still voted to go to war with Iraq based on false intelligence. DeWine voted against investigating intelligence failures when no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, and recently shelved for months and then dismissed a report in which the Bush administration's intelligence agencies concluded that the war in Iraq was mobilizing jihadists and increasing the terrorist threat to the United States.
 
According to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS), "Attendance is very, very important. Attendance is where you gain the experience and the expertise to do the job." [CNN, 8/19/04]  Asked about his attendance to classified meetings of the Intelligence Committee, DeWine said, "I cannot put a figure on it.  I can make something up, but that is not the type of person I am" [Plain Dealer 10/6/06].
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10/10/2006 / Permalink / National Security, (all tags)

DeWine Intel Failures Continue to Unfold

Dismal Attendance Record for Public Intel Hearings Indicative of Private Meetings
 
A conference call today with leading national security and intelligence committee experts revealed that Ohio Republican incumbent Senator Mike DeWine has disregarded private as well as public hearings.
 
In addition to highlighting DeWine's disregard for hearings and reports, it was also shown that DeWine's attendance record this Congressional session is among the worst of any member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
 
The call included Rand Beers, president of the National Security Network and former member of the National Security Council under Presidents Clinton and Bush; and co-authors of "No Mere Oversight: Congressional Oversight of Intelligence is Broken," Peter Rundlet, vice president for National Security at the Center for American Progress and former counsel for the 9/11 Commission, and Denis McDonough, senior fellow and senior adviser at the Center for American Progress and former International Relations Committee staff member.
 
"Senator Roberts has made a statement on behalf of Senator DeWine that the country and Ohioans are well served by his service on the committee. I talked to several staff members about this, and the comment was that his attendance in the closed meetings is about the same as his attendance in the open meetings, and that he is not particularly an active member," said Beers.
 
McDonough discussed the importance of public hearings and records as an essential component in Congressional oversight and accountability.
 
"We've just now completed the 109th Congress, and the Senate Intelligence Committee still has not published its record of achievements and activities for the 108th Congress. Now we are going on four years without any report about what they've been up to, couple that with members are not turning up to the public events, and public hearings, and couple that with the fact that we're going into the second Congress in a row without passing an intelligence bill for the first time in 25 years. Unfortunately, judging it by the fruits of their labor, this committee is not living up to the responsibilities it has been given."
 
Over Last Two Years, DeWine Missed Two-Thirds of Public Committee Meetings. 12 open meetings were held and DeWine missed eight of them. [Government Printing Office documents, c-span.org]
 
DeWine Ranks Among Worst for Attendance. During the 109th Congress, the combined attendance for DeWine's committee colleagues was 60%, while DeWine's attendance was a mere 33%. Only one member of the fifteen-member committee missed more meetings than DeWine. [Government Printing Office, c-span.org]
 
Committee Attendance - 109th Congress
Average  60%
Average - D 59%
Average - R 60%
DeWine  33%

10/05/2006 / Permalink / National Security, (all tags)

After Missing 50% of Intel Hearings, DeWine Speculates on Iraq

AMHERST, OH - Continuing a trend of election-year conversions, incumbent Republican Senator DeWine yesterday speculated there may be troop drawdowns from Iraq over the next two years but offered no specifics [Vindicator 10/4/06].  Two days earlier, Senator DeWine was insistent our troops must stay in Iraq without any plans to end the war while Congressman Sherrod Brown again called for military leaders to prepare a plan for troop redeployment [Meet the Press 10/1/06].  DeWine also followed Brown's lead by declaring he has "no confidence" in Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, but failed to call for Rumsfeld's resignation.
 
DeWine failed to exert his oversight authority over the Bush administration by missing nearly 50 percent of the public meetings of the Intelligence Committee during his career and dismissing a report on terrorist threats to the United States.
 
"Senator DeWine abdicated his oversight responsibility a long time ago," said U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH). "Now he's simply grasping at straws.  Instead of speculating about what may happen in Iraq, Senator DeWine should hold the administration accountable for its failed Iraq strategy."
 
DeWine missed nearly 50 percent of the public meetings of the Intelligence Committee, including years of critical meetings before 9/11.  According to the Plain Dealer, "DeWine missed sessions where then-CIA Director George Tenet and other intelligence authorities testified, and where worldwide security threats, international terrorism, counterintelligence threats at the nation's nuclear laboratories and nominations to intelligence agencies were discussed, records show" [10/4/06].
 
The Plain Dealer article is available here: LINK
 
Last week, DeWine dismissed an intelligence report in which 16 of the administration's intelligence agencies concluded that the war in Iraq was mobilizing jihadists and increasing the terrorist threat to the United States saying it was of "no great significance" [Plain Dealer 9/28/06].
 
DeWine voted more than 90 percent of the time with the Bush administration and supports the president's stay-the-course Iraq strategy.  He supported the president in sending troops into battle based on false intelligence and voted against investigating the false intelligence that led our troops into battle.  DeWine made claims about the presence of weapons of mass destruction before the war.  According to the Toledo Blade, "[DeWine] repeated his insistence that Saddam Hussein has chemical and biological weapons and is trying to get nuclear weapons. He refused to be specific, saying, ‘A lot of this stuff is classified.'"  [Toledo Blade, 7/10/02]
 
"When our troops are on the line, Ohioans expect their Senator to show up for duty and ensure that defense leaders are executing a winning strategy," stated Brown.  "Our first priority should be refocusing our efforts on the War on Terror, rooting out al Qaeda, and catching Osama bin Laden."

10/04/2006 / Permalink / National Security, (all tags)

DeWine Attacks Sensenbrenner on Security

AMHERST, OH - Incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine has a record of failure on the Senate Intelligence Committee.  He missed nearly half of the public meetings of the Committee, voted against investigating the false intelligence that led the U.S. to war with Iraq, and has failed to offer oversight over the Bush administration's stay-the-course strategy.
 
Today, DeWine continued taking votes out of context and attacked Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for voting in line with a number of defense hawks to reform our nation's intelligence system, which lacked accountability and needed reform following the Cold War.
 
Just last week, DeWine admitted to shelving for months a critical intelligence report in which 16 of the administration's intelligence agencies concluded that the war in Iraq increased the terrorist threat to our nation.  After reading the report, DeWine dismissed it as being of "no great significance," again failing to hold the administration accountable for security failures.

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10/03/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, National Security, (all tags)