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overseer, to stay a part of the process, “to have a seat at the table,” congressional committees<br />

must have jurisdiction over an executive branch agency or program. As may be seen<br />

in this case, jurisdictional concerns were paramount largely because Members sincerely<br />

wanted to play a part in guiding NIMA’s evolution over time.<br />

THE CREATION OF NIMA:<br />

CONGRESS’S ROLE AS OVERSEER<br />

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee... we can no longer afford redundant<br />

capabilities in several different agencies… I will move immediately to consolidate the<br />

management of all imagery collection, analysis, and distribution. In my judgment both<br />

effectiveness and economy can be improved by managing imagery in a manner similar to<br />

the National Security Agency’s organization for signals intelligence. 369<br />

—Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) Candidate John Deutch<br />

WHY NIMA?<br />

The consolidation of imagery promised by John Deutch during his testimony to the<br />

SSCI, in his confirmation hearings for the position of Director of Central Intelligence,<br />

was a direct reference to the concept of a National Imagery and Mapping Agency. Deutch<br />

agreed <strong>with</strong> those who wanted to assemble all or part of as many as eight agencies or programs<br />

into a single, focused imagery agency. The pieces to be assembled would include:<br />

Defense Mapping Agency (DMA),<br />

Central Intelligence Agency’s National Photographic Interpretation<br />

Center (NPIC),<br />

Central Imagery Office (CIO),<br />

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Imagery Processing, .<br />

Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO),<br />

Defense Intelligence Agency’s Photographic Interpretation<br />

Section (DIA/PGX),<br />

Defense Dissemination Program Office (DDPO) and<br />

Central Intelligence Agency’s imagery-related elements/programs.<br />

According to Leo Hazlewood, then CIA Deputy Director for Science and Technology,<br />

Deutch’s announcement “came as a complete surprise to the bureaucracy at Langley’’<br />

(CIA headquarters). 370 Senior leadership there thought the NIMA idea had died in the<br />

early 1990s, due to Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) General Colin Powell’s opposition.<br />

Deutch brought the idea back to life in April 1995.<br />

369 U.S. Congress, Senate, Select Committee on Intelligence, Confirmation Hearings of John Deutch, 94th<br />

Congress, 1st sess., 26 April 1995, 1, 8 and 9.<br />

370 Leo Hazlewood, Deputy Director, NIMA Implementation Team, interview by the author, 6 October 2000<br />

220

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