by Don Walton, Lincoln Journal Star

Sen. Ben Sasse said Thursday he believes the United States is well served by "an intelligence community that is unparalleled in the world."

"We should be affirming them (and) explaining why their mission is critical," he said.

Sasse's comments come at a time when President-elect Donald Trump is questioning the capability, performance and reliability of U.S. intelligence agencies, expressing doubts about their assessment that Russia attempted to influence the U.S. presidential election through targeted cyberattacks.

Cyberwarfare will be "a key priority for me," Sasse said during a quick telephone interview from Washington while he was hurrying to a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

He is a new Republican member of the committee and has signaled his intention to focus on cyberwarfare. 

"I'm very concerned that we're not spending nearly enough time or energy" on the challenges of cyberwarfare, Sasse said.

"We are dealing with a new world that is mobile and encrypted," he said, "and we need to function more like Silicon Valley" in terms of being ahead of the game.  

Russia, he said, is heavily committed to cyberattacks as part of its global strategy.

Sasse expressed concern about "the way the public debate is becoming narrowly partisan" in assessing what Russia is doing or trying to accomplish.

"There is no question that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a bad guy," Sasse said, and he is attempting to spread Russian power and influence across the world in a negative way in opposition to U.S. or western interests.

Read the full article at the Lincoln Journal Star here.

Our intel community is unparalleled in the world. We should affirm them & explain why their mission is critical?. https://t.co/TeKNFYFxhp

— Senator Ben Sasse (@SenSasse) January 6, 2017