WASHINGTON – Some House Republicans are upset over Democratic lawmakers' efforts to use intelligence funds to pay for a climate change study.
The intelligence authorization bill would call for a review of climate change's effect on national security.
"There are all kinds of people analyzing global warming, the Democrats even have a special committee on this," Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., the ranking Republican member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told The Washington Times. "There's no value added by the intelligence community here; they have no special expertise, and this takes money and resources away from other threats."
Click here to read The Washington Times report.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the climate-change study is necessary.
"We're concerned that global warming might impact our ability to maintain national security," Reyes said. "We want to get feedback from the intelligence community to understand if there are possible global issues."
"There are other parts of the government better suited to doing this type of study," countered Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. "Our government should not commit expensive spy satellites and human intelligence sources to target something as undefined as the environment."
The House is scheduled to debate the intelligence authorization bill next week.
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