National debt pose security threats: U.S. intelligence director

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told a Senate panel on Tuesday that the country's bitter political wrangling and growing debt posed grave threats to U.S. national security.

"I'm concerned that our increasing fractious political process, particularly with respect to federal spending, is threatening our ability to properly defend our nation, both in the short term and especially in the long term," Coats told the Senate Intelligence Panel.

"The failure to address our long-term fiscal situation has increased the national debt to over $20 trillion and growing. I would urge all of us to address this challenge."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bernadette Baum)