Who is the House and Senate Committees on Intelligence really looking out for?

On June 18th 2013 The House Intelligence Committee held hearings on the recent leaks by Edward Snowden, a former employee of the defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. The “point” of this hearing was to get to the bottom of the what was “true'” and “lies” about the leaks. Also Gen. Keith Alexander, the director of the National Security Agency, was going to explain how important it is to have these “tools” to spy and collect data from every American Citizen. I was looking forward to seeing the members of the committee pressing Gen. Alexander on the legality and Constitutionality of these programs. Well, that did not happen, not even close.

The hearing began with Mike Rogers, head of the committee saying the people of the U.S. have heard a “drumbeat” of misinformation about NSA programs. “All of them, wrong. The misperceptions have been great.” along with calleing Snowden’s leaks “fragmentary and distorted illegal disclosures”. But this was a bipartisan attack on Snowden, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat from Maryland said Snowden’s leaks “put our country and our allies in danger.” “The terrorists now know many of our sources and methods.”.

This continued for the two plus hours, along with each member of the committee slobbing all over Gen. Alexander and his buddies from FBI, DOJ etc. Thanking them for being so open, and explaining the legality behind these spy programs. So I was let down by this whole hearing, So I start wondering, I wonder why these members are being so easy on the NSA, why are they pretty much defending the NSA and all these defense contractors who work for the NSA and U.S. Government. Well I start doing a little research to find out who got these members elected to congress in the first place. Who bankrolled their campaigns and gave them the funds to win their elections. Well once I started digging I start finding a pattern. Here is a list of the 21 members of the House Committee on Intelligence, and contributions they received from defense contractors in the last elections cycle. These are just out of the TOP 100 Donors:

Mike Rogers-Michigan (R) (Chairman) $13,000 Mantech International/$11,250 BAE Systems/ $10,250 Boeing Co./ $10,250 General Dynamics /$10,000 SAIC Inc./$10,000 Northrop Grumman /  $10,000 Honeywell International/ $10,000 Lockheed Martin/ Raytheon $10,000 

Mac Thornberry-Texas (R) $18,000 Northrop Grumman/$10,250 General Dynamics/$10,000 Boeing Co/$10,000 General Atomics/$10,000 Lockheed Martin/$10,000 Honeywell International/$10,000 Raytheon

Jeff Miller-Florida (R) $15,000 Northrop Grumman/$11,000 BAE Systems/$10,500 Lockheed Martin/$10,000 European Aeronautic Defence & Space/$9,000 General Atomics/$8,000 General Dynamic

Mike Conaway-Texas (R) $15,000 Northrop Grumman/$10,000 General Dynamics/$10,000 Raytheon Co/$9,000 Lockheed Martin

Peter King-New York (R) $13,500 Northrop Grumman/$13,000 General Dynamics/$11,000 Raytheon Co/$10,00 Boeing Co/$10,000 Honeywell International/$10,000 Lockheed Martin/$6,000 BAE Systems

Frank A. LoBiondo– New Jersey (R) $12,000 Northrop Grumman/$10,000 Boeing Co/$10,000 Honeywell International/$10,000 Raytheon Co/$9,000 General Dynamics/$8,000 BAE Systems/$8,000 Lockheed Martin 

Devin Nunes– California (R) $8,000 Honeywell International/$7,500 Lockheed Martin/$7,000 Northrop Grumman

Lynn Westmoreland– Georgia (R) $10,000 General Dynamics/$7,000 Raytheon Co/$6,000 Lockheed Martin/$5,500 Honeywell International

Michele Bachmann– Minnesota (R) $6,150 Northrop Grumman

Tom Rooney– Florida (R) $6,000 Northrop Grumman

Joe Heck– Nevada (R) $12,000 Northrop Grumman/$10,000 Boeing Co/$9,999 Honeywell International/$8,000 Lockheed Martin/$5,000 General Atomics

Mike Pompeo– Kansas (R) $3,000 Lockheed Martin/$2,500 Honeywell International

Dutch Ruppersberger– Maryland (D) (Ranking Member) $38,400 Northrop Grumman/$15,000 Mantech International/$10,750 Raytheon Co/$10,500 Boeing Co/$10,500 SAIC Inc/$10,000 General Dynamics/$10,000 Honeywell International/$10,000 Lockheed Martin/$8,000 BAE Systems/$5,000 General Atomics

Mike Thompson– Californa (D) $7,500 Raytheon Co/$7,000 Lockheed Martin

Jan Schakowsky– Illinois (D) $4,000 Lockheed Martin

James Langevin– Rhode Island (D) $24,850 General Dynamics/$15,150 Raytheon Co/$15,000 Northrop Grumman/$10,000 Boeing Co/$10,000 Honeywell International/$10,000 SAIC Inc/$8,000 Lockheed Martin

Adam Schiff– California (D) $12,000 Northrop Grumman/$10,000 Raytheon Co/$8,000 Boeing Co/$7,500 Honeywell International/$7,000 Lockheed Martin

Luis Gutiérrez– Illinois (D) $2,000 Lockheed Martin

Ed Pastor – Arizona (D) $12,500 General Dynamics/$10,000 BAE Systems/$10,000 Boeing/$10,000 Lockheed Martin/$10,000 Raytheon Co

Jim Himes– Connecticut (D) $10,000 Honeywell International

Terri Sewell– Alabama (D) $2,00 0 Lockheed Martin

See any similarities there? According the BusinessInsider.com the Top 5 Defense Contractors in the world are

1. Lockheed Martin
2. Boeing
3. Northrop Grumman
4. General Dynamics
5. Raytheon

All those companies are well accounted for with money invested in members of the oversight committee. War, Spying, and Drones are a big money business, so why would these members question or call out illegal activities of the corporations that got them elected? They won’t, why would they fight the programs that are lining their campaign war chests. They won’t. Don’t even begin to think the Senate Oversight Committee is any better. Here is a list of the members and their donors in the defense contractor industry.

Dianne Feinstein (Chair) California (D)
$56,750 General Atomics/$43,500 General Dynamics/$40,000 BAE Systems/$30,800 Northrop Grumman/$10,000 Boeing Co/$10,000 Honeywell International/$10,000 Lockheed Martin/$10,000 Raytheon Co

Ron Wyden – Oregon (D)
$14,500 Honeywell International/$12,000 Boeing Co/$10,000 Lockheed Martin/$10,000 Raytheon

Barbara Mikulski – Maryland (D)
$47,400 Northrop Grumman/$19,500 SAIC Inc/$16,500 Raytheon Co/$15,000 Lockheed Martin/$13,500 European Aeronautic Defence & Space /$11,000 Boeing Co

Mark Udall – Colorado (D)
$19,000 Lockheed Martin/$18,000 Honeywell International/$15,750 Northrop Grumman/$14,000 Raytheon Co

Mark Warner – Virgina (D)
$64,150 Northrop Grumman/$28,600 SAIC Inc/$20,800 Boeing Co/$16,000 Honeywell International

Martin Heinrich – New Mexico (D)
$23,000 Lockheed Martin/$10,000 Honeywell International/$7,250 Boeing Co

Jay Rockefeller – West Virginia (D) (Retiring in 2014)

$0 from Defense Contractors in TOP 100 Donors

Angus King – Maine (I)
$6,000 Raytheon Co/$5,250 Lockheed Martin/$5,000 Boeing Co/$5,000 Honeywell International

Saxby Chambliss (Vice Chair) Georgia (R)
$59,600 Lockheed Martin/$25,000 Northrop Grumman/$19,750 Honeywell International/$19,300 Raytheon Co/$16,500 Boeing Co/$15,000 General Dynamics

Richard Burr – North Carolina (R)
TOP 100 Donors $0

Jim Risch – Idaho (R) $10,000 Honeywell International/$5,000 Boeing Co

Dan Coats – Indiana (R)
$13,500 SAIC Inc/$13,00 Raytheon Co/$12,500 Lockheed Martin/$12,000 Boeing Co/$11,000 Northrop Grumman/$8,000 European Aeronautic Defence & Space/$7,000 BAE Systems/$6,550 Honeywell International

Marco Rubio – Florida (R)
$11,500 Honeywell International

Susan Collins – Maine (R)
$59,750 General Dynamics/$35,801 Raytheon Co/$18,500 Northrop Grumman/$18,000 Boeing Co/$16,750 Lockheed Martin/$15,550 Honeywell International/$14,500 BAE Systems/$14,000 SAIC Inc

Tom Coburn – Oklahoma (R)
$10,000 Honeywell International/$10,000 Lockheed Martin

 

Sources BusinessInsider.com OpenSecrets.org