Washington, Oct 24 -

“A Pelosi Majority would weaken our intelligence capabilities, undermine our national defense, and ultimately result in an America less safe and less prepared to confront the threat posed by terrorists bent on destroying our very way of life.” – House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

When it comes to advocating strong national security policies that keep America safe, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) can’t cite her San Francisco-inspired voting record.  Instead, she mentions her “14 years on the Intelligence Committee” as proof she understands the stakes in the Global War on Terror, as she did on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday.  But just what was Pelosi’s record on the House Intelligence Committee? 

Pelosi undermined U.S. intelligence capabilities at every opportunity, supporting a series of drastic, across-the-board cuts by the Clinton Administration during the 1990s in human intelligence and the number of American intelligence operatives.  Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with former President Clinton in 1993 was Pelosi, who voted to cut intelligence authorization by $500 million.  Pelosi voted for more drastic intelligence cuts in 1996, 1997, and 1998. 

Furthermore, Pelosi refused to vote for a resolution expressing support for those who work for our intelligence agencies in 2004.  And just this year, Pelosi celebrated the Supreme Court’s Hamdan decision as “a triumph for the rule of law” and voted against bringing terrorists to justice.  Unfortunately, with the Global War on Terror still ongoing, giving foreign terrorists the same rights and privileges as American citizens and soldiers is a recipe for defeat. 

Pelosi also has steadfastly used illegal leaks of classified intelligence to wrongly justify her weak and indecisive approach on intelligence matters and strong national security policies that effectively combat terrorism.  Whether it was the Terrorist Surveillance Program or the National Intelligence Estimate, Pelosi doesn’t seem to fundamentally understand that illegally leaking classified intelligence undermines our national security and puts American lives at risk.

So when Pelosi talks about her “14 years on the Intelligence Committee” it simply masks her long and indefensible record that has devastated American intelligence capabilities and weakened U.S. efforts to combat terrorism around the globe.  It proves once again how unserious Pelosi is about waging and winning the Global War on Terror.