CIA loses out on bill after Pentagon ally protests

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key Pentagon ally in the U.S. Congress defeated a legislative attempt to guarantee the CIA control of all U.S. secret agents overseas, congressional aides said on Monday.

In the latest turf battle involving post-Sept. 11 reforms, the top Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee agreed to drop language from a proposed bill that would have put CIA Director Porter Goss in charge of human intelligence, aides said.

The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject matter.

The panel's Republican chairman, Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, and ranking Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman of California, agreed to change their 2006 intelligence authorization bill after objections from the powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Duncan Hunter of California.