49-010
109TH
CONGRESS
Report
SENATE
2d Session
109-259
--INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR
2007
May 25,
2006- Ordered to be printed
Mr.
ROBERTS, from the Select Committee on Intelligence,
submitted the following
R E P O
R T
together
with
ADDITIONAL
VIEWS
[To accompany S. 3237]
The Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI or Committee),
having considered the original bill (S. 3237), to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2007 for
intelligence and intelligence-related activities
of the United States Government, the Intelligence
Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence
Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for
other purposes, reports an original bill without
amendment favorably thereon and recommends that
the bill do pass.
CLASSIFIED SUPPLEMENT TO THE COMMITTEE REPORT
The classified nature of United
States intelligence activities
precludes disclosure by the Committee of details
of its budgetary recommendations in this Report.
The Committee has prepared a classified supplement
to this Report that contains (a) the Classified
Annex to this Report and (b) the classified Schedule
of Authorizations. The Schedule of Authorizations
is incorporated by reference in the Act and has
the same legal status as public law. The Classified
Annex to this Report explains the full scope and
intent of the Committee's actions in the classified
Schedule of Authorizations. The Classified Annex
has also been incorporated by reference in Section
103. As such, the Intelligence Community is required
to comply with any directions or requirements contained
therein as it would any other statutory requirement.
The classified supplement to the Report is available
for review by any Member of the Senate, subject
to the provisions of Senate Resolution 400 of the
94th Congress, as amended by Senate Resolution 445
of the 108th Congress.
The classified supplement is made available to
the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and
the House of Representatives, to the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives,
and to the President. The President shall provide
for appropriate distribution within the Executive
Branch.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION
The following is a section-by-section analysis
and explanation of the Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2007, as reported herein. Following
the section-by-section analysis and explanation
there are Committee comments on other matters. The
report also includes additional views offered by
Committee Members regarding this legislation and
other matters.
TITLE I--INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES
Section 101.
Authorization of appropriations
Section 101 lists the United
States government departments,
agencies, and other elements for which the Act authorizes
appropriations for intelligence and intelligence-related
activities for fiscal year 2007.
Section 102.
Classified schedule of authorizations
Section 102 makes clear that the details of the
amounts authorized to be appropriated for intelligence
and intelligence-related activities and the applicable
personnel ceilings covered under this title for
fiscal year 2007 are contained in a classified Schedule
of Authorizations. The Schedule of Authorizations
shall be made available to the Committees on Appropriations
of the Senate and House of Representatives and to
the President.
Section 103.
Incorporation of classified annex
Section 103 incorporates into law the Classified
Annex to this Report. Unless otherwise specifically
stated, the amounts authorized in the Classified
Annex are not in addition to amounts authorized
to be appropriated by other provisions of the Act
or by the classified Schedule of Authorizations.
The Committee has taken the step of incorporating
the Classified Annex because the Executive Branch,
in the past, has refused to treat with equal weight
the language in the classified annexes and the text
of recent authorization acts and their accompanying
classified schedules of authorizations. This Committee,
and Congress, will not permit the Executive Branch
to ignore the clear instructions of Congress merely
because the directives are contained, by necessity
of classification, in an annex accompanying the
report associated with intelligence authorizing
legislation. The Committee directs the Executive
Branch to comply fully with any directed transfers,
temporary limitations on use (fences), or other
limitations or instructions contained in the Classified
Annex to this Report.
Section 104.
Personnel ceiling adjustments
Section 104 authorizes the Director of National
Intelligence (DNI), with the approval of the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in
fiscal year 2007 to authorize employment of civilian
personnel in excess of the personnel ceilings applicable
to the elements of the Intelligence Community under
Section 102 by an amount not to exceed 2 percent
of the total of the ceilings applicable under Section
102. The DNI may exercise this authority only if
necessary to the performance of important intelligence
functions. Any exercise of this authority must be
reported to the intelligence committees of the Congress.
Section 105.
Intelligence Community Management Account
Section 105 authorizes appropriations for the Intelligence
Community Management Account (CMA) of the DNI and
sets the personnel end-strength for the elements
within the CMA for fiscal year 2007.
Subsection (a) authorizes appropriations of $648,952,000
for fiscal year 2007 for the activities of the CMA
of the DNI. Subsection (a) also authorizes funds
identified for advanced research and development
to remain available for two years.
Subsection (b) authorizes 1,575 full-time personnel
for elements within the CMA for fiscal year 2007
and provides that such personnel may be permanent
employees of a CMA element or detailed from other
elements of the United States government.
Subsection (c) authorizes additional appropriations
and personnel for the CMA as specified in the classified
Schedule of Authorizations and permits the additional
funding for research and development to remain available
through September 30, 2008.
Subsection (d) requires that, except as provided
in Section 113 of the National Security Act of 1947,
personnel from another element of the United States government shall
be detailed to an element of the CMA on a reimbursable
basis, except that for temporary functions such
personnel may be detailed on a non-reimbursable
basis for periods of less than one year.
Section 106.
Incorporation of reporting requirements
Section 106 incorporates into the Act by reference
each requirement to submit a report contained in
the Joint Explanatory Statement to accompany the
Conference Report or in the Classified Annex accompanying
the Conference Report.
Section 107.
Availability to public of certain intelligence funding
information
Section 107 would require the President to disclose
the aggregate amount of funds requested for the
National Intelligence Program in the annual budget
submission for the program. The section would also
require Congress to disclose the aggregate amount
of funds authorized to be appropriated, and the
aggregate amount appropriated, for the National
Intelligence Program. It also directs the DNI to
conduct a study to assess the advisability of publicly
disclosing the aggregate amount of funding requested,
authorized, and appropriated for each of the 16
elements of the Intelligence Community. The report
must be submitted to Congress within 180 days of
enactment of this Act.
Section 108.
Response of Intelligence Community to requests from
Congress for intelligence documents and information
Section 108 provides for certain procedural requirements
related to the ability of Congress to gain access,
through the intelligence committees and other committees
of jurisdiction, to intelligence reports, assessments,
estimates, legal opinions, and other intelligence
information. The provision states that elements
of the Intelligence Community must provide to the
intelligence committees any intelligence documents
or information requested by the Chairman or Vice
Chairman (or Ranking Minority Member) of such committees.
The statutory requirement applies only to existing
intelligence documents and information and would
not apply to requests to generate new intelligence
assessments, reports, estimates, legal opinions,
or other information.
TITLE II--CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RETIREMENT
AND DISABILITY SYSTEM
Section 201.
Authorization of appropriations
Section 201 authorizes appropriations in the amount
of $256,400,000 for fiscal year 2007 for the Central
Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability Fund.
TITLE III--INTELLIGENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY MATTERS
Section 301.
Increase in employee compensation and benefits authorized
by law
Section 301 provides that funds authorized to be
appropriated by this Act for salary, pay, retirement,
and other benefits for Federal employees may be
increased by such additional or supplemental amounts
as may be necessary for increases in such compensation
or benefits authorized by law.
Section 302.
Restriction on conduct of intelligence activities
Section 302 provides that the authorization of
appropriations by the Act shall not be deemed to
constitute authority for the conduct of any intelligence
activity that is not otherwise authorized by the
Constitution or laws of the United States.
Section 303.
Clarification of definition of Intelligence Community
under the National Security Act of 1947
Section 303 amends Section 3(4)(L) of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4)(L)) to permit
the designation as `elements of the intelligence
community' of other elements of departments and
agencies of the United States government not listed
in Section 3(4).
Section 304.
Improvement of notification of Congress regarding
intelligence activities of the United States Government
Section 304 amends the requirements for notifications
to Congress under Sections 502 and 503 of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413a & 413b).
First, Section 304 amends the definition of `congressional
intelligence committees' in Section 3(7) of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(7)),
specifically including `each member' of the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the
House of Representatives within such definition.
Second, Section 304 requires that, in the event
that the DNI or the head of an Intelligence Community
element does not provide to all Members of the `congressional
intelligence committees' the notification required
by Section 502 (relating to intelligence activities
other than covert actions) or Section 503 (relating
to covert actions) of the National Security Act
of 1947, that all Members will be provided with
a notification of this fact and will be provided
with a summary of the intelligence activity or covert
action in a manner sufficient to permit such Members
to assess the legality, benefits, costs, and advisability
of the intelligence activity or covert action. Third,
Section 304 extends requirements in Section 502
of the National Security Act of 1947 on the form
and contents of reports to the `congressional intelligence
committees' on intelligence activities other than
covert actions to the requirements for notifications
to Congress under Section 503 of that Act (relating
to covert actions). Fourth, the section requires
that any change to a covert action finding under
Section 503 of that Act must be reported to the
committees, rather than the existing requirement
to report any `significant' change.
Section 305.
Delegation of authority for travel on common carriers
for intelligence collection personnel
Section 116 of the National Security Act of 1947
(50 U.S.C. 404k) allows the DNI to authorize travel
on any common carrier when it is consistent with
Intelligence Community mission requirements or,
more specifically, is required for cover purposes,
operational needs, or other exceptional circumstances.
As presently written, the DNI may only delegate
this authority to the Principal Deputy DNI (PDDNI)
or, with respect to Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) employees, to the Director of the CIA.
Section 305 of this bill provides that the DNI
may delegate the authority in Section 116 of the
National Security Act of 1947 to the head of any
element of the Intelligence Community. This expansion
is consistent with the view of the Committee that
the DNI should be able to delegate authority throughout
the Intelligence Community when such delegation
serves the overall interests of the Community.
Section 305 also provides that the head of an Intelligence
Community element to whom
travel authority has been delegated is also empowered
to delegate the authority to senior officials of
the element as specified in guidelines issued by
the DNI. This allows for administrative flexibility,
consistent with the guidance of the DNI, for the
entire Community. To facilitate Congressional oversight,
the DNI shall submit the guidelines to the intelligence
committees of the Congress.
Section 306.
Modification of availability of funds for different
intelligence activities
Section 306 conforms the text of Section 504(a)(3)(B)
of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.
414(a)(3)(B) (governing the funding of intelligence
activities)) with the text of Section 102A(d)(5)(A)(ii)
of that Act (50 U.S.C. 403-1(d)(5)(A)(ii)), as amended
by Section 1011(a) of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Pub. L. No. 108-458 (Dec. 17, 2004)) (governing the transfer and reprogramming
by the DNI of certain intelligence funding).
In particular, this conforming amendment replaces
the `unforeseen requirements' standard in Section
504(a)(3)(B) with a clearer
standard to govern reprogrammings
and transfers of funds authorized for a different
intelligence or intelligence-related activity. Under
the new standard, a reprogramming or transfer would
be authorized if, in addition to the other requirements
of Section 504(a)(3), the
new use of funds would `support an emergent need,
improve program effectiveness, or increase efficiency.'
This modification brings the standard for reprogrammings
or transfers of intelligence funding into conformity
with the standards applicable to reprogrammings
and transfers under Section 102A of the National
Security Act of 1947. The modification preserves
Congressional oversight of proposed reprogrammings
and transfers while enhancing the Intelligence Community's
ability to carry out missions and functions vital
to national security.
Section 307.
Additional limitation on availability of funds for
intelligence and intelligence-related activities
Section 307 specifies that appropriated funds may
be obligated or expended for an intelligence or
intelligence-related activity only if the `congressional
intelligence committees' have been `fully and currently
informed' of that activity, or if all Members have
been provided a summary of the activity, consistent
with the requirements of Sections 502(b) and 503(c)(5)
of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.
413a(b) & 413b(c)(5)), as amended by Section
304 of this Act.
Section 308.
Increase in penalties for disclosure of undercover
intelligence officers and agents
Section 308 amends Section 601 of the National
Security Act (50 U.S.C. 421) to increase the criminal
penalties for individuals with authorized access
to classified information who
intentionally disclose
any information identifying a covert agent, if those
individuals know that the United
States is taking affirmative
measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence
relationship to the United States. Currently, the maximum sentence
for disclosure by someone who has had `authorized
access to classified information that identifies
a covert agent' is 10 years. Subsection (a) increases
that maximum sentence to 15 years. Currently, the
maximum sentence for disclosure by someone who `as
a result of having authorized access to classified
information, learns of the identity of a covert
agent' is 5 years. Subsection (b) increases that
maximum sentence to 10 years.
Section 309.
Retention and use of amounts paid as debts to elements
of the Intelligence Community
Section 309 adds a new Section 1103 to the National
Security Act of 1947, authorizing Intelligence Community
elements to accept, retain, and--for certain purposes--use
amounts received from private parties as repayment
of debts owed to such element.
Each year some property purchased with appropriated
funds is damaged beyond use or is lost through the
negligence of a private party or an employee of
the Intelligence Community. The damaged or lost
property may have been used to support wartime activities
or other national intelligence missions and, thus,
waiting for additional funds to be provided through
the next annual appropriation cycle inhibits the
Intelligence Community's ability to quickly and
efficiently support the war fighter and other national
intelligence missions.
Section 309 addresses this shortcoming by authorizing
elements of the Intelligence Community to accept
and retain reimbursement, outside of the annual
appropriations cycle, from a private party, including
a Federal employee, who has been found to have negligently
lost or damaged property. As a result, elements
of the Intelligence Community will be able to expeditiously
repair or replace lost or damaged property without
waiting for the next appropriation cycle. Similarly,
this new section also authorizes elements of the
Intelligence Community to retain funds paid by Intelligence
Community employees or former employees as repayment
of a default on the terms and conditions of scholarship,
fellowship, or other educational assistance provided
by the Community to the employee. The section authorizes
crediting payments only to the current appropriation
account related to the debt and limits the subsequent
use of the funds.
Section 310.
Pilot program on disclosure of records under the
Privacy Act relating to certain intelligence activities
As a result of reporting requirements
in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2004 (Pub. L. No. 108-177 (Dec. 13,
2003)) intended to improve information access, the
Intelligence Community, Department of Defense (DoD),
Department of Homeland Security, and Federal law
enforcement agencies formed the Information Sharing
Working Group (ISWG) to, inter alia, identify impediments
to information access in existing laws and in Intelligence
Community and DoD policies.
The ISWG issued its report in December 2004.
In the report, the ISWG noted that certain provisions
of the Privacy Act could prevent the sharing of
intelligence information within the Executive Branch.
Generally, the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) precludes
the dissemination of information regarding U.S.
persons stored within a system of records maintained
by the United States government without the consent
of that individual. There are, however, twelve exceptions
to this general rule. For example, one exception
permits the sharing of information to support a
civil or criminal law enforcement activity under
certain prescribed circumstances. There is no exception
permitting Intelligence Community elements and other
United States government agencies
to share foreign intelligence or counterintelligence
information (including information concerning international
terrorism or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction)
between or with elements of the Intelligence Community.
To address this shortcoming, Section 310 creates
a pilot program to study a narrow intelligence exception
to the Privacy Act. Specifically, the provision
allows transfers under three circumstances. First,
the provision permits elements of the Intelligence
Community to share with other elements of the Intelligence
Community information covered by the Privacy Act
pertaining to an identifiable individual when that
information is relevant to a lawful and authorized
foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activity.
To share such foreign intelligence or counterintelligence
information under this provision pertaining to other
than an identifiable individual would require the
authorization of the DNI or his designee. Second,
the provision permits the head of an element of
the Intelligence Community to request in writing
from another United
States government agency Privacy
Act records relevant to a lawful and authorized
activity of that element to protect against international
terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. Third, the provision authorizes heads
of non-Intelligence Community agencies to share
Privacy Act records with an element of the Intelligence
Community if the record constitutes `terrorism information'
(as defined in Section 1016(a)(4) of the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Pub.
L. No. 108-458 (Dec. 17, 2004))
or information concerning the proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction, if the receiving element of
the Intelligence Community is lawfully authorized
to collect or analyze the information to protect
against international terrorism or proliferation.
When necessary to determine whether a record held
by a non-Intelligence Community agency constitutes
terrorism information or information concerning
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
the head of such agency may consult the DNI or the
Attorney General. Section 310 also extends to the
pilot program an exemption from certain records
access and disclosure accounting requirements. In
order to protect intelligence sources and methods
from unauthorized disclosure, this exemption is
similar to the exemption extended to the DNI under
Section 416 of this Act.
Section 310 will not be effective until the DNI
and the Attorney General issue guidelines governing the implementation and exercise
of the authorities granted by the section. The guidelines
will ensure that Section 310 is implemented in a
manner designed to protect the
constitutional rights
of U.S. persons and consistent with existing law,
regulations, and Executive orders governing the
conduct of intelligence activities.
It is important to note that Section 310 facilitates
the sharing only of intelligence information already
lawfully collected and maintained within United
States government record systems and relevant to
a lawful and authorized foreign intelligence or
counterintelligence activity (with a particular
focus on sharing by non-Intelligence Community elements
of information concerning international terrorism
and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction).
The provision expressly states that the new authority
to share already collected information does not
permit the collection or retention of foreign intelligence
or counterintelligence information not otherwise
authorized by law.
To ensure that the exception to the Privacy Act
permits necessary sharing of critical foreign intelligence
and counterintelligence information while providing
appropriate protections for the privacy and civil
liberties of U.S. persons, Section 310 establishes
a three-year pilot program. The exception to the
Privacy Act will expire three years after the DNI
and the Attorney General issue the guidelines discussed
above, unless renewed. During the course of the
program, the DNI and the Attorney General, in consultation
with the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board,
are required to submit to the intelligence committees annual reports on the status and implementation
of the pilot program. Additionally, six months prior
to the expiration of the program, the DNI and the
Attorney General, in coordination with the Privacy
and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, will submit
a final report to the intelligence committees, including
any recommendations regarding continued authorization
of the exception. Similarly, the Privacy and Civil
Liberties Oversight Board will submit to the intelligence
committees a separate report providing the Board's
advice and counsel on the development and implementation
of the authorities provided under this Section.
Section 310 includes modifications proposed by
the Armed Services Committee, the Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee, and individual
Members of the Senate. Both the Office of the DNI
and the Department of Justice (DoJ)
have expressed their support
for this provision. Specifically, in a letter to
the Committee dated December 1, 2005, referring
to a provision similar to Section 310 in the Committee-passed
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006,
the DNI wrote, the `Administration strongly supports
this provision because it would facilitate the type
of information sharing mandated by the [Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004], consistent
with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties.'
Similarly, in a separate letter to the Committee
dated November 28, 2005, the Assistant Attorney
General for Legislative Affairs wrote, `We support
section 307 [of the Committee-passed Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006]. * * * We
believe that this provision would help in resolving
some of the concerns that some agencies have expressed
about sharing information with the FBI for counterterrorism
purposes.' In fact, the DNI included a Privacy Act
exception similar to Section 310 in this year's
annual request for legislative authorities.
Section 311.
Extension to Intelligence Community of authority
to delete information about receipt and disposition
of foreign gifts and decorations
Current law requires that certain Federal `employees'--a
term that generally applies to all officials and
personnel of the Intelligence Community and certain
contractors, spouses, dependents, and others--file
reports with their `employing' agency regarding
the receipt of gifts or `decorations' from foreign
governments. See 5 U.S.C. 7342. Following compilation
of these reports, the `employing' agency is required
to annually file with the Secretary of State detailed
information about the receipt of foreign gifts and
decorations reported by its employees, including
the source of the gift. See 5 U.S.C. 7342(f). The
Secretary of State is then required to publish a
comprehensive list of the agency reports in the
Federal Register. See id. With respect to the activities
of the Intelligence Community, the public disclosure
of such gifts or decorations in the Federal Register
has the potential to compromise intelligence sources
(e.g., the confirmation of an intelligence relationship
with a foreign government) and could undermine national
security. Recognizing this potential concern, the
Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was granted
a limited exemption from reporting certain specified
information about such foreign gifts or decorations
where the publication of the information could adversely
affect United
States intelligence sources.
See Pub. L. No. 95-105, Sec. 515(a)
(Aug. 17, 1977). Section 1079 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-458 (Dec. 17, 2004)
(`Intelligence Reform Act'), extended a similar
exemption to the DNI (in addition to amending the
existing exemption to apply to the Director of the
CIA).
Section 311 amends existing law to provide to the
heads of each Intelligence Community element the
same limited exemption from specified public reporting
requirements that is currently authorized for the
DNI and the Director of the CIA. The national security
concerns that prompted the initial DCI exemption,
and the subsequent exemptions for the DNI and Director
of the CIA, apply with equal weight to other Intelligence
Community elements--the publication of certain information
relating to foreign gifts or decorations provided
to employees of all Intelligence Community agencies
could adversely affect United States intelligence
sources. Section 311 provides the exemption necessary
to protect national security, but mandates that
the information not provided to the Secretary of
State be provided to the DNI to ensure continued
independent oversight of the receipt by Intelligence
Community `employees' of foreign gifts or decorations.
Section 312.
Availability of funds for travel and transportation
of personal effects, household goods, and automobiles
Section 312 provides the CIA and the Office of
the DNI the same authority that is granted to the
Department of State by Section 2677 of Title 22,
United States Code, when travel and transportation
authorized by valid travel orders begins in one
fiscal year, but may not be completed during that
same fiscal year. The Committee believes this authority
will relieve the administrative burden of charging
the eligible costs to two fiscal years' appropriations
and adjusting associated accounts.
Section 313.
Director of National Intelligence report on compliance
with the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005
Section 313 requires the DNI to submit a classified
report to the intelligence committees on all measures
taken by the Office of the DNI, and by any element
of the Intelligence Community with relevant responsibilities,
on compliance with two provisions of the Detainee
Treatment Act of 2005. The report is to be submitted
no later than September 1, 2006.
The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 provides, in
part, that no individual in the custody or under
the physical control of the United States, regardless of nationality or physical
location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment. The report required
by Section 313 shall include a description of any
detention or interrogation methods that have been
determined to comply with this prohibition or have
been discontinued pursuant to it.
The Detainee Treatment of Act of 2005 also provides,
in part, for the protection, against civil or criminal
liability, for United States Government personnel
who had engaged in officially authorized interrogations
that were determined to be lawful at the time. Section
313 requires the DNI to report on actions taken
to implement that provision.
The report required by Section 313 shall also include
an appendix containing all guidelines on the application
of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 to the detention
or interrogation activities, if any, of any element
of the Intelligence Community. The appendix shall
also include all legal opinions of the DoJ
about the meaning of the Detainee Treatment Act
of 2005 or its application to detention or interrogation
activities, if any, of any element of the Intelligence
Community.
Section 314.
Report on alleged clandestine detention facilities
for individuals captured in the global war on terrorism
Section 314 requires the DNI to submit a classified,
detailed report to the Members of the intelligence
committees that provides a full accounting on each
clandestine prison or detention facility, if any,
currently or formerly operated by the United States
Government, regardless of location, at which detainees
in the global war on terrorism are or have been
held. Section 314 sets forth required elements of
this report: the location and size of each such
prison or facility, its disposition if no longer
operated by the United States Government, plans
for the ultimate disposition of detainees currently
held, a description of interrogation procedures
used or formerly used, and whether those procedures
are or were in compliance with United States obligations
under the Geneva Conventions and the Convention
Against Torture. The classified report is to be
submitted no later than 60 days after enactment
of this Act.
TITLE IV--MATTERS RELATING TO ELEMENTS OF THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
SUBTITLE A--OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
Section 401.
Additional authorities of the Director of National
Intelligence on intelligence information sharing
Section 401 amends the National Security Act of
1947 to provide the DNI statutory authority to use
National Intelligence Program funds to quickly address
deficiencies or needs that arise in intelligence
information access or sharing capabilities. The
new Section 102A(g)(1)(G) of the National Security
Act of 1947 authorizes the DNI to provide to a receiving
agency or component--for that agency or component
to accept and use--funds that have been authorized
and appropriated to address intelligence information
access or sharing needs. In the alternative, the
DNI may provide to a receiving agency necessary
or associated services and equipment procured with
funds from the National Intelligence Program. The
new Section 102A(g)(1)(H) of the National Security
Act of 1947 also grants the DNI the authority to
provide funds to non-National Intelligence Program
activities for the purpose of addressing critical
gaps in intelligence information access or sharing
capabilities. Without the authority, the development
and implementation of necessary capabilities could
be delayed by an agency's lack of authority to accept
or utilize systems funded from the National Intelligence
Program, inability to use or identify current-year
funding, or concerns regarding the augmentation
of appropriations. These new DNI authorities are
similar to authority granted to the National Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency (NGA) with respect to imagery and imagery-related
systems. See Section 105(b)(2)(D)(ii)
of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.
403-5).
Section 402.
Modification of limitation on delegation by the
Director of National Intelligence of the protection
of intelligence sources and methods
Section 402 amends the National Security Act of
1947 to modify the limitation on delegation by the
DNI of the authority to protect intelligence sources
and methods from unauthorized disclosure. The provision
permits the DNI to delegate the authority to the
Deputy Directors of National Intelligence or the
Chief Information Officer of the Intelligence Community.
A previous provision in the National Security Act
of 1947 had vested the power to protect sources
and methods in the DCI, but did not constrain further
delegation of the authority.
Section 403.
Authority of the Director of National Intelligence
to manage access to human intelligence information
Section 403 provides the DNI with the authority
to ensure the dissemination of intelligence information
collected through human sources, including the underlying
operational data necessary to understand that reporting,
to appropriately cleared analysts or other intelligence
officers throughout the Intelligence Community.
Recent intelligence failures--particularly related
to pre-war intelligence assessments on Iraq--have demonstrated the importance of rebuilding
and
improving the nation's
human intelligence capabilities. While the Intelligence
Community is making some progress in this regard,
a great deal remains to be done, particularly in
the area of access to intelligence gathered through
human intelligence operations.
The Committee's review of the Intelligence Community's
pre-war assessments on Iraq
highlighted the impact of unnecessary restrictions
on access by intelligence analysts to human intelligence
information. In its Report of the Select Committee
on Intelligence on the U.S. Intelligence Community's
Pre-War Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, the Committee
concluded that the Intelligence Community's failure
to provide cleared analysts with a legitimate `need-to-know'
broader access to human intelligence reporting,
including the operational data underlying that reporting,
contributed to the flawed intelligence assessments
on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.
Access to this data--controlled by the agencies
that collected the information--would have provided
analysts with a better understanding of the reliability
of the sources of the reporting, as well as other
significant intelligence information required for
their work.
The Intelligence Reform Act provides the DNI with
a number of tools to foster greater information
access within the Community. Section 403 builds
on these tools by providing the DNI with the specific
authority to ensure analysts and other Intelligence
Community officers are provided with improved access
to human intelligence reporting, consistent with
the DNI's determinations
regarding the protection of intelligence sources
and methods. Although the Committee expects that
individual elements will continue to retain human
intelligence operational data, access decisions
will be made by the DNI as a neutral arbiter of
need-to-know. No longer will these access decisions
be left to individual agencies with a parochial--and
understandable--desire to protect sources at all
costs. Access to human intelligence reporting, and
underlying operational reporting, must be balanced
against real threats to sources and methods. Under
Section 403, the Committee expects the DNI to perform
the necessary balancing. Section 403 also provides
the DNI with full and regular access to the information
necessary to `manage and direct * * * the tasking
of, collection, analysis, production, and dissemination
of national intelligence by elements of the intelligence
community.' See Section 102A(f)(1)(A)(ii) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50
U.S.C. 403-1(f)(1)(A)(ii)).
To effectively implement Section 403, the DNI should
standardize security clearance processes across
Intelligence Community elements to resolve issues
that have hampered information access in the past.
The Committee does not believe that working in a
particular agency makes one Intelligence Community
officer inherently more trustworthy than a counterpart
with the same security clearance and a legitimate
`need-to-know' at another element. Resolution of
disparate clearance standards and processes, however,
should provide Intelligence Community elements with
an additional degree of comfort that, while information
from sources for which those agencies are responsible
has received greater distribution, the recipients
of that information are appropriately cleared consistent
with DNI standards. Based on the authorities provided
to the DNI in the Intelligence Reform Act and this
section, the Committee is confident that the DNI
can implement the protections necessary for intelligence
sources and methods, while making human intelligence
information more readily available to appropriately
cleared intelligence officers who need the information
for the conduct of their duties.
Section 404.
Additional administrative authority of the Director
of National Intelligence
From an organizational standpoint, the DNI should
be able to rapidly focus the Intelligence Community
on a particular intelligence issue through a coordinated
effort that uses all available resources. The ability
of the DNI to respond with flexibility and to coordinate
the Intelligence Community response to an emerging
threat should not depend on the time-sensitive vagaries
of the budget cycle and should not be constrained
by general limitations found in appropriations law
(e.g., 31 U.S.C. 1532) or the annual limitation
set forth in the `General Provisions' of the Transportation,
Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary,
the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies
Appropriations Act. See, e.g., Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2005, Division H--Transportation, Treasury,
Independent Agencies, and General Government Appropriations
Act, 2005, Section 610, Pub. L. No. 108-447 (Dec.
8, 2004); see also, e.g., In
re: Veterans Administration Funding of Federal Executive
Boards, 65 Comp. Gen. 689 (July 1, 1986) (discussing
history of prohibition on interagency financing
of boards, commissions, councils, committees, or
similar groups).
To provide this needed operational and organizational
flexibility, Section 404 grants the DNI the authority--notwithstanding
certain specified provisions of general appropriations
law--to approve interagency financing of national
intelligence centers (authorized under Section 119B
of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.
404o-2)) and of other boards, commissions, councils,
committees, or similar groups established by the
DNI (e.g., `mission managers,' as recommended by
the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities
of the United States regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMD Commission)). Under Section 404, the DNI could
authorize the pooling of resources from various
Intelligence Community and non-Intelligence Community
agencies to finance national intelligence centers
or other organizational groupings designed to address
identified intelligence matters. Once approved by
the DNI, the provision also expressly permits other
United States government departments and agencies,
including Intelligence Community elements, to fund,
or participate in the funding of, the authorized
activities.
The Committee recognizes the need for coordinated
responses to national security threats and intelligence
problems. To better understand how the DNI intends
to utilize the authority provided under Section
404, the Committee directs the DNI to provide an
annual report--through the end of fiscal year 2010--providing
details on how this authority has been exercised,
what amount of appropriated funds attributable to
each interagency contributor has been accessed to
finance each national intelligence center or other
organizational grouping under this section, and
whether the National Intelligence Program or other
budget account has been modified to provide specific
funding for such national intelligence centers or
other organizational groupings or whether funding
will continue to be provided under the authority
of Section 404.
Section 405.
Clarification of limitation on co-location of the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Section 405 clarifies that the ban on co-location
of the Office of the DNI with any other Intelligence
Community element, which is slated to take effect
as of October 1, 2008, applies to the co-location
of the headquarters of the Office of the DNI with
the headquarters of any other Intelligence Community
agency or element. This provision provides flexibility
to ensure that components of the Office of the DNI
may be located in the most appropriate facility
or facilities, including co-location with components
of Intelligence Community agencies or elements.
The Committee is aware that the DNI intends to find
a headquarters that is separate and apart from the
headquarters of the various Intelligence Community
elements, consistent with the expressed intent of
Congress.
Section 406.
Additional duties of the Director of Science and
Technology of the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence
As part of the restructuring of the nation's intelligence
infrastructure in the Intelligence Reform Act, Congress
created a Director of Science and Technology within
the Office of the DNI. Under the Act, the Director
of Science and Technology serves as the DNI's
chief representative for science and technology,
assisting the DNI in formulating a long-term strategy
for scientific advances in the field of intelligence
and on the science and technology elements of the
intelligence budget. Additionally, the Director
of Science and Technology chairs the DNI's
Science and Technology Committee--responsible for
coordinating advances in intelligence-related research
and development.
The House-passed version of the Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2007, H.R. 5020 (109th Cong.,
2d Sess.), contains a
provision (Section 403) that further expounds on
the role of the Director of Science and Technology.
Section 403 in H.R. 5020 would require the Director
of Science and Technology to systematically identify
the Intelligence Community's most significant challenges
requiring technical solutions and to develop options
to enhance research and development efforts to meet
requirements in a timely manner. Section 403 would
also require the DNI to submit to Congress a report
detailing the strategy for development and use of
technology throughout the Intelligence Community
through 2021. The report is to identify the Community's
highest priority intelligence gaps that may be resolved
by the use of technology; identify goals for advanced
research and development; explain how advanced research
and development projects funded under the National
Intelligence Program address the identified gaps;
specify current and projected research and development
projects; and provide a plan for incorporating technology
from research and development projects into National
Intelligence Program acquisition programs.
Section 406 incorporates additional requirements
into a provision otherwise similar to Section 403
of H.R. 5020.
The Committee supports the House provision, but
also believes that such a provision should make
clear that it is the responsibility of the Director
of Science and Technology to assist the DNI in ensuring
that the Intelligence Community's research and development
priorities and projects are consistent with national
intelligence requirements; that a priority be placed
on addressing identified deficiencies in the collection,
processing, analysis, or dissemination of national
intelligence; that the research and development
priorities and projects account for program development
and acquisition funding constraints; and that such
priorities and projects address system requirements
from collection to final dissemination.
The Committee further requires the Director of
Science and Technology, at the direction of the
DNI, to develop and maintain an integrated Technical
Standards System for major acquisitions. The Technical
Standards System should improve the availability
of technical standards for the design, development,
and operation of Intelligence Community programs
and projects; reduce duplication of effort and improve
interoperability within the Intelligence Community,
with the private sector, and with international
partners; and enhance awareness of standardization
in the Intelligence Community. Under this provision,
the Director of Science and Technology will develop
standards that document uniform engineering and
technical requirements for processes, procedures,
practices, and methods, including requirements for
selection, application, and design criteria of particular
items. The Committee encourages the DNI to consult,
as appropriate, with the heads of other United States
government departments and agencies (e.g., the Secretary
of Defense, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, Secretary of Homeland
Security) when developing standards and specifications
under this provision.
Section 407.
Appointment and title of Chief Information Officer
of the Intelligence Community
Section 407 converts the position of Chief Information
Officer (CIO) of the Intelligence Community from
an appointment by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, to an appointment
by the DNI. The provision also expressly designates
the position as CIO of the Intelligence Community.
The modification to the title of the position of
CIO is consistent with the position's overall responsibilities
as outlined in Section 103G(b) of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403-3g(b)). Section 407 shall
apply with respect to any appointment of an individual
to serve as CIO of the Intelligence Community that
is made on or after the date of enactment of this
Act.
The CIO of the Intelligence Community has reorganized
his office to reflect his legislative responsibilities.
The reorganized office consists of the following
units: (1) Intelligence Community Governance; (2)
Intelligence Community Enterprise Architecture;
(3) Information Sharing and Customer Outreach; (4)
Intelligence Community Information Technology Management;
and (4) Enterprise Services. The CIO of the Intelligence
Community has also established a CIO Council that
is composed of program managers from several key
Intelligence Community elements. The CIO of the
Intelligence Community also plans on
establishing a `board
of governors' consisting of officials from the various
agencies who will work together to resolve issues.
The creation of a CIO of the
Intelligence Community (Section 303 of the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (Pub.
L. No. 108-487 (Dec. 23, 2004))), combined with
the budgetary authorities and information technology
responsibilities of the DNI (see, e.g., Section
1011 of the Intelligence Reform Act), laid an important
foundation for improvements in the information technology
infrastructure of the Intelligence Community. The
Committee believes that the CIO of the Intelligence
Community must provide direction and guidance to
all elements of the Intelligence Community to ensure
that information technology research and development,
security, and acquisition programs support information
access throughout the Intelligence Community. The
modification to the manner in which the CIO of the
Intelligence Community is appointed should not be
construed to diminish the authorities or responsibilities
of the position.
Section 408.
Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
Section 1078 of the Intelligence Reform Act authorizes
the DNI to establish an Office of Inspector General
if the DNI determines that an Inspector General
`would be beneficial to improving the operations
and effectiveness of the Office of the DNI.' It
further provides that the DNI may grant to the Inspector
General `any of the duties, responsibilities, and
authorities' set forth in the Inspector General
Act of 1978. The DNI has now appointed an Inspector
General and has granted the Inspector General certain
authorities pursuant to Director of National Intelligence
Instruction No. 2005-10 (Sept. 7, 2005). The duties,
responsibilities, and authorities of the Inspector
General, and his ability to exercise his authorities
across all elements of the Community, remain ambiguous,
however. In H.R. Rep. 109-411 (April 6, 2006) (report
of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
of the House of Representatives (HPSCI) to accompany
H.R. 5020, the Intelligence Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2007), the HPSCI has also expressed
concerns that `[the Office of the Inspector General]
is currently chartered in a way that does not ensure
the maximum utility of that office to act as a coordinating
organization for all Intelligence Community Inspector
Generals [sic], specifically with regard to keeping
the Committee informed of its activities and findings.'
The problems expressed by the HPSCI report and
the concerns identified in the Committee's oversight
must be addressed by an empowered and effective
Inspector General to serve the DNI and the Intelligence
Community. A strong Inspector General is vital to
achieving the goal, set forth in the Intelligence
Reform Act, of improving the operations and effectiveness
of the Intelligence Community. It is also vital
to achieving the broader goal of identifying problems
and deficiencies wherever they may be found in the
Intelligence Community, including the manner in
which elements of the Community interact with each
other in such matters as providing access to information
and undertaking joint or cooperative activities.
To that end, by way of a proposed new Section 103H
of the National Security Act of 1947, Section 408
of this Act establishes an Inspector General of
the Intelligence Community.
The office will be established within the Office
of the DNI. The Inspector General will keep both
the DNI and the intelligence committees fully and
currently informed about problems and deficiencies
in Intelligence Community programs and operations
and the need for corrective actions. The Inspector
General will be appointed by the President, with
the advice and consent of the Senate, and will report
directly to the DNI. To bolster the Inspector General's
independence within the Intelligence Community,
the Inspector General may be removed only by the
President, who must then communicate the reasons
for the Inspector General's removal to the intelligence
committees.
The DNI may prohibit the Inspector General from
conducting an investigation, inspection, or audit
if the DNI determines that such action is necessary
to protect vital national security interests. If
the DNI exercises the authority to prohibit an investigation,
the DNI must provide the reasons for taking such
action to the intelligence committees within seven
days. The Inspector General may, as necessary, provide
a response to the intelligence committees regarding
the actions of the DNI.
The Inspector General will have direct and prompt
access to the DNI and any Intelligence Community
employee, or employee of a contractor, whose testimony
is needed. The Inspector General will also have
direct access to all records that relate to programs
and activities for which the Inspector General has
responsibility. Failure to cooperate will be grounds
for appropriate administrative action.
The Inspector General will have subpoena authority;
however, information within the possession of the
United
States government must be obtained
through other procedures. Subject to the DNI's
concurrence, the Inspector General may request information
from any United States government department,
agency, or element. Upon receiving such a request
from the Inspector General, heads of United
States government departments,
agencies, and elements, insofar as practicable and
not in violation of law or regulation, must provide
the requested information to the Inspector General.
The Inspector General must submit semiannual reports
to the DNI that include a description of significant
problems relating to Intelligence Community programs
and operations and to the relationships between
Intelligence Community elements. The reports must
include a description of Inspector General recommendations and a statement whether corrective action has
been completed. Within 30 days of receiving the
report from the Inspector General, the DNI must
submit each semiannual report to Congress.
The Inspector General must immediately report to
the DNI particularly serious or flagrant violations.
Within seven days, the DNI must transmit those reports
to the intelligence committees, together with any
comments. In the event the Inspector General is
unable to resolve differences with the DNI, the
Inspector General is authorized to report the serious
or flagrant violation directly to the intelligence
committees. Reports to the intelligence committees
are also required with respect to investigations
concerning high-ranking Intelligence Community officials.
Intelligence Community employees, or employees
of contractors, who intend to report to Congress
an `urgent concern'--such as a violation of law
or Executive order, a false statement to Congress,
or a willful withholding from Congress--may report
such complaints and supporting information to the
Inspector General. Following a review by the Inspector
General to determine the credibility of the complaint
or information, the Inspector General must transmit
such complaint and information to the DNI. On receiving
the complaints or information from the Inspector
General (together with the Inspector General's credibility
determination), the DNI must transmit such complaint
or information to the intelligence committees. If
the Inspector General does not find a complaint
or information to be credible, the reporting individual
may submit the matter directly to the intelligence
committees by following appropriate security practices
outlined by the DNI. Reprisals or threats of reprisal
against reporting individuals constitute reportable
`urgent concerns.' The Committee will not tolerate
actions by the DNI, or by any Intelligence Community
element, constituting a reprisal for reporting an
`urgent concern' or any other matter to Congress.
Nonetheless, reporting individuals should ensure
that the complaint and supporting information are
provided to Congress consistent with appropriate
procedures designed to protect intelligence sources
and methods and other sensitive matters.
For matters within the jurisdiction of both the
Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
and an Inspector General for another Intelligence
Community element (or a parent department or agency),
the Inspectors General must expeditiously resolve
who will undertake the investigation, inspection,
or audit. For investigations, inspections, or audits
commenced by an Inspector General of an Intelligence
Community element prior to the enactment of this
Act, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
should exercise his authority in a manner that does
not disrupt the timely completion of such investigations,
inspections, or audits or result in unnecessary
duplication of effort. An Inspector General for
an Intelligence Community element must share the
results of any inspection, investigation, or audit
with any other Inspector General, including the
Inspector General of the Intelligence Community,
who otherwise would have had jurisdiction over the
investigation.
Consistent with existing law, the Inspector General
must report to the Attorney General any information,
allegation, or complaint received by the Inspector
General relating to violations of Federal criminal
law.
Section 408 includes modifications proposed by
the Armed Services Committee of the Senate during
its sequential consideration of S. 1803, the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006. In addition
to technical modifications, these proposed modifications:
(1) removed the authority of the Inspector General
of the Intelligence Community to serve as the final
arbiter of jurisdictional disputes among Intelligence
Community Inspectors General; (2) exempted initial
investigations, inspections, or audits of the DoD Inspector General, or any other Inspectors General within
the DoD, from the authority
of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
to conduct a subsequent investigation, inspection,
or audit of the same matter if the initial investigation,
inspection, or audit was deemed deficient; and (3)
deleted a requirement that Intelligence Community
Inspectors General must comply fully with requests
for information or assistance from the Inspector
General of the Intelligence Community. Compare S.
1803, Section 408, as reported by the Committee
(S. Rep. 109-142 (Sept. 29, 2005) (adding proposed
subsection (g)(1), (g)(3), and (h)(3)(C) of new
Section 103H of the National Security Act of 1947))
with S. 1803, Section 408, as reported by the Armed
Services Committee (S. Rep. 109-173 (Oct. 27, 2005)
(modifying proposed subsection (g)(1), (g)(3), and
(h)(3)(C))).
Section 409.
Leadership and location of certain offices and officials
Section 409 expressly establishes four new officers
within the Office of the DNI: (1) the CIO of the
Intelligence Community; (2) the Inspector General
of the Intelligence Community; (3) the Director
of the National Counterterrorism Center;
and (4) the Director of the National Counter Proliferation
Center (NCPC). It also provides that the DNI shall
appoint the Director of the NCPC.
The establishment of a Director of the NCPC is
consistent with Section 1022 of the Intelligence
Reform Act. Section 1022 added a new Section 119A
of the National Security Act of 1947, which provides
that the President shall establish an NCPC. Under
the Act, the NCPC has seven missions and objectives
and should serve as the primary organization within
the United States government for
analyzing and integrating all intelligence pertaining
to proliferation. Among its other powers, the NCPC
is authorized to coordinate the counter proliferation
plans and activities of all United States government departments and agencies.
Section 119A also provided that the NCPC should
conduct `strategic operational planning' for the
United States government to prevent the spread
of weapons of mass destruction, delivery systems,
and materials and technologies.
Congress provided the President with the authority
to waive any, or all, of the requirements of Section
119A if it was determined that they did not materially
improve the nonproliferation ability of the United
States. At the time Congress enacted the Intelligence
Reform Act, the WMD Commission had not completed
its work. Congress provided that the President,
after receiving the WMD Commission report, should
submit to Congress his views on the establishment
of the NCPC.
In its March 31, 2005, report, the WMD Commission
recommended that the President establish a relatively
small NCPC that manages and coordinates analysis
and collection across the Intelligence Community
on nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The
WMD Commission supported the concept of `strategic
operational planning,' but recommended that it not
be performed by the NCPC.
On June 29, 2005, the White House announced that
the President had endorsed the establishment of
an NCPC. The statement provided that the NCPC would
exercise `strategic oversight' of the Intelligence
Community's weapons of mass destruction activities.
The DNI would ensure that the NCPC establishes strategic
intelligence collection and analysis requirements
regarding WMD that are consistent with United
States policies. Under the
President's plan, the NCPC would be established
within the Office of the DNI, and the DNI would
appoint the Director
of the NCPC who would
then report to the DNI. On August 8, 2005, the DNI
announced the appointment of the first Director
of the NCPC. This appointment represented an important
first step in the establishment of the NCPC.
Section 409 does not amend any other procedural
or substantive provision of Section 119A of the
National Security Act of 1947. If the President
determines not to assign to the NCPC any power provided
by Section 119A, notice must be provided to Congress
in writing as required by that section.
Section 410.
National Space Intelligence
Center
The United
States maintains a very large
investment in satellites, and this investment has
grown dramatically in recent years. These satellites
serve the commercial and national security needs
of the nation. As such, a loss of any or all of
these assets could do tremendous harm to our economy
and security.
At the same time, our investment in intelligence
collection concerning threats to our interests in
space has declined markedly as a function of our
overall investment in space systems. Despite this
significant investment, some estimates indicate
that we commit only 10 percent of what we did nearly
25 years ago to the analysis of threats to space
systems. Recent international events have only served
to highlight this problem.
In an effort to better understand the future threats
to our space assets, as well as potential threats
to the United States from space, Section 410 establishes
a National Space Intelligence Center (NSIC). It
is not the intent of the Committee that the NSIC
be a physical consolidation of existing intelligence
entities with responsibilities for various types
of intelligence related to space. Rather, the Committee
believes that the first function of the NSIC is
to coordinate all collection, analysis, and dissemination
of intelligence related to space, as well as participate
in Intelligence Community analyses of requirements
for space systems. The NSIC augments the existing
efforts of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center
(NASIC) and Missile and Space Intelligence Center
(MSIC); it is not designed to replace them. Indeed,
the Committee intends that the NSIC work closely
with NASIC and MSIC to ensure a coordinated Intelligence
Community response to issues that intersect the
responsibilities of all t hree organizations.
The Director of the NSIC shall be the National
Intelligence Officer for Science and Technology,
and the Committee encourages the appointment of
an Executive Director from the Senior Intelligence
Service. Further details related to the mission
of the NSIC can be found in the Classified Annex
accompanying this Act.
Section 411.
Operational files in the Office of the Director
of National Intelligence
Section 411 adds a new Section 700 to the National
Security Act of 1947. It ensures that protected
operational files provided by elements of the Intelligence
Community to the Office of the DNI carry with them
any exemption such files had from Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) requirements for search, review, publication,
or disclosure.
In the CIA Information Act, Congress authorized
the DCI to exempt operational files of the CIA from
several requirements of the FOIA, particularly those
requiring search and review in response to FOIA
requests. In a series of enactments codified in
Title VII of the National Security Act of 1947,
Congress has extended the exemption to the operational
files of the NGA, the National Security Agency (NSA),
the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). It has also provided
that the files of the Office of the National Counterintelligence
Executive (NCIX) should be treated as operational
files of the CIA (to the extent they meet the criteria
for CIA operational files).
The components of the Office of the DNI, including
the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), require
access to information contained in operational files.
The purpose of Section 411 is to make clear that
the operational files of any component of the Intelligence
Community, for which an operational files exemption
is applicable, retain their exemption from FOIA
search, review, disclosure, or publication.
The new Section 700 of the National Security Act
of 1947 provides several limitations. The exemption
does not apply to information disseminated beyond
the Office of the DNI. Also, as Congress has provided
in the operational files exemptions for the CIA
and other Intelligence Community elements, Section
700 provides that the exemption from search and
review does not apply to requests by United States
citizens or permanent residents for information
about themselves (although other FOIA exemptions,
such as appropriate classification, may continue
to protect such files from public disclosure). The
search and review exemption would not apply to the
subject matter of Congressional or Executive Branch
investigations into improprieties or violations
of law.
In the DNI's annual request
to the Committee for legislative authorities during
the fiscal year 2006 legislative cycle, the Office
of the DNI asked for a broader exemption from the
FOIA than currently provided in Section 411. The
Committee considers it likely that the operations
of the Office of the DNI, in particular the activities
of the NCTC and the NCPC, may require an operational
files exemption. Before acting on such a request,
the DNI, through the CIO of the Intelligence Community
or other appropriate officers, should systematically
study and report to the intelligence committees
regarding the application of the FOIA to the Office
of the DNI.
As part of this review, the DNI should report on
the responsibility assigned by Congress in the Intelligence
Reform Act concerning operational file exemptions.
Congress amended each operational file statute to
provide that the exemption should be made only with
the coordination of the DNI. Congress also provided
that the decennial review of the exemptions in force
must be undertaken with the DNI. These decennial
reviews must include consideration of the historical
value or other public interest in categories of
files and the potential for declassifying a significant
amount of the material in them. The DNI should advise
the intelligence committees on the benefits of coordinating
the five decennial reviews which now occur at different
times.
Section 412.
Eligibility for incentive awards of personnel assigned
to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Section 412 updates Section 402 of the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1984 (Pub. L.
No. 98-215 (Dec. 9, 1983)) to reflect and incorporate
organizational changes made by the Intelligence
Reform Act. Section 412 also makes other technical
and stylistic amendments and strikes a subsection
of the law that applied only during fiscal year
1987.
Section 413.
Repeal of certain authorities relating to the Office
of the National Counterintelligence Executive
Section 413 amends the authorities and structure
of the Office of the NCIX to eliminate certain independent
administrative authorities that had been vested
in the NCIX when that official was appointed by,
and reported to, the President. Those authorities
are unnecessary, redundant, and anomalous now that
the NCIX is to be appointed by, and under the authority,
direction, and control of the DNI.
Section 414.
Inapplicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act
to advisory committees of the Office of the Director
of National Intelligence
Congress enacted the Federal Advisory Committee
Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App.) to regulate the use of
advisory committees throughout the Federal Government.
The FACA sets forth the responsibilities of Congress
and the Executive Branch with regard to such committees
and outlines procedures and requirements for such
committees. As originally enacted in 1972, the FACA
expressly exempted advisory committees utilized
by the CIA and the Federal Reserve System. Section
414 amends the FACA to extend this exemption to
those advisory committees established or used by
the Office of the DNI.
Section 415.
Membership of the Director of National Intelligence
on the Transportation Security Oversight Board
Section 415 substitutes the DNI, or the DNI's
designee, as a Member of the Transportation Security
Oversight Board established under Section 115(b)(1)
of Title 49, United States Code, in place of the
Director of the CIA, or the Director of the CIA's
designee.
Section 416.
Applicability of the Privacy Act to the Director
of National Intelligence and Office of the Director
of National Intelligence
The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) has long contained
a provision under which the Director of the CIA
could promulgate rules to exempt any system of records
within the CIA from certain disclosure requirements
under the Act. The provision was designed to ensure
that the CIA could provide adequate and appropriate
safeguards for certain sensitive information in
its records systems. In assuming the leadership
of the Intelligence Community, the DNI similarly
requires the ability to safeguard sensitive information
in records systems within the Office of the DNI.
Section 416 extends to the DNI the authority to
promulgate rules under which certain records systems
of the Office of the DNI may be exempted from certain
Privacy Act disclosure requirements.
SUBTITLE B--CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Section 421.
Director and Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency
The Intelligence Reform Act established the positions
of the DNI and the PDDNI and abolished the positions
of DCI and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
as those positions had previously existed. The DNI
and PDDNI are responsible for leading the entire
Intelligence Community, which includes many components
from the DoD.
Moreover, the DNI and PDDNI must ensure that the
war fighter continues to receive timely, actionable
intelligence. Accordingly, the Intelligence Reform
Act continued the tradition of permitting a commissioned
officer to serve as either the leader or principal
deputy of the Intelligence Community, so long as
both positions are not filled by commissioned officers
at the same time.
In establishing the positions of DNI and PDDNI,
the Act separated the leadership of the Intelligence
Community from the leadership of the CIA. Although
the Act explicitly provided for a Director of the
CIA, it did not provide for a statutory deputy to
the Director.
Section 421 establishes the position of Deputy
Director of the CIA. The Deputy Director will be
appointed by the President, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, and will assist the Director
of the CIA in carrying out the duties and responsibilities
of that office. In the event of a vacancy in the
position of Director of the CIA, or during the absence
or disability of the Director, the Deputy Director
will act for, and exercise the powers of, the Director.
The DNI will recommend a nominee to the President
to fill any vacancy in this position.
With the amendments made by Section 421, the Presidential
nomination of both the Director and Deputy Director
of the CIA must be confirmed by the advice and consent
of the Senate. Given the sensitive operations of
the CIA, nominees for the positions of Director
and Deputy Director of the CIA merit close scrutiny
by Congress to examine the nominees' qualifications
prior to their assumption of the duties of these
offices. With respect to the Deputy Director of
the CIA, the requirement for Senate confirmation
also provides assurance that, in the event of a
vacancy in the position of Director of the CIA,
or during the absence or disability of the Director,
Congress will have previously expressed its confidence
in the ability of the nominee to assume those additional
duties.
Section 421 also requires that both the Director
and Deputy Director of the CIA be appointed `from
civilian life.' The considerations that encourage
appointment of a military officer to the position
of DNI or PDDNI do not apply to the leadership of
the CIA. Indeed, given the CIA's establishment in
1947 as an independent civilian intelligence agency
with no direct military or law enforcement responsibilities,
the Committee does not believe that a similar construct
of military leadership is appropriate at that agency.
Accordingly, the Committee
recommends that both the
Director and Deputy Director of the CIA should be
appointed from civilian life. To preserve the important
liaison relationship between the military and the
CIA, the Committee recognizes the important role
played by the Associate Director of the CIA for
Military Support and continues to support the appointment
of a current military officer to that position.
Unlike the requirement that the Secretary of Defense
be appointed `from civilian life' (see 10 U.S.C.
113(a)), Section 421 does not contain any limitation
on how long a nominee must have been `from civilian
life' prior to appointment. The only restriction
is that an active duty officer must first retire
or resign his or her commission and return to civilian
life prior to being appointed as either the Director
or Deputy Director of the CIA. Thus, the President
retains the flexibility to nominate candidates with
significant military experience for either or both
positions.
Given the nomination by the President of General
Michael V. Hayden to serve as Director of the CIA,
and this Committee's favorable reporting of that
nomination to the full Senate, the Committee has
included a provision that will make the requirement
that the Director of the CIA be appointed `from
civilian life' applicable to the nomination of the
successor to the Director of the CIA in office on
the date of enactment of this Act.
With respect to the Deputy Director of the CIA,
the Committee has also included a provision that
will make the nomination and confirmation requirements
of Section 421 applicable to the successor to the
individual administratively performing the duties
of the Deputy Director of the CIA on the date of
enactment of this Act. The prohibition on an active
duty commissioned officer serving as the Deputy
Director of the CIA and the requirement that the
position be filled by a Presidential nominee confirmed
by the Senate will not take effect until the earlier
of the date the President nominates an individual
to serve in such position or the date the individual
presently performing the duties of that office leaves
the post.
To insulate an officer serving as the Director
or Deputy Director of the CIA from undue military
influence, Section 421 provides that so long as
the individual continues to perform the duties of
the Director or Deputy Director of the CIA, he may
continue to receive military pay and allowances,
but he is not subject to the supervision or control
of the Secretary of Defense or any of the military
or civilian personnel of the DoD.
Section 422.
Enhanced protection of Central Intelligence Agency
intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized
disclosure
Section 422 amends the National Security Act of
1947 to provide the Director of the CIA the authority
to protect CIA intelligence sources and methods
from unauthorized disclosure, consistent with any
direction from the President or the DNI. Prior to
the Intelligence Reform Act, the authority to protect
intelligence sources and methods had been assigned
to the DCI, as head of the Intelligence Community.
The CIA relied on the DCI's
sources and methods authority as the CIA's primary
statutory basis for protecting a range of CIA information,
including its human sources, from public or unauthorized
disclosure in a wide range of contexts and proceedings.
This authority proved critical for assuring current
and potential human intelligence sources that CIA
could, and would, keep the fact of their association
with the United States government secret,
whether in civil litigation, administrative proceedings,
or other arenas. In Section 102A(i)
of the National Security Act, as added by the Intelligence
Reform Act, Congress transferred this DCI authority
to the DNI.
In the DNI's annual request
to the Committee for legislative authorities during
the fiscal year 2006 legislative cycle, the DNI
asked that a provision similar to Section 422 be
enacted to supplement the grant of authority to
the DNI with a comparable grant to the Director
of the CIA, subject to the direction of the President
or DNI. It is intended to underscore for intelligence
sources that the CIA has explicit statutory authority
to protect its sources and methods. The revision
to Section 104A(d) of the National Security Act of 1947 is not intended
to, and does not, authorize the Director of the
CIA to withhold from the DNI any CIA information
to which the DNI is entitled by statute, Executive
order, Presidential directive, or other applicable
law or regulation.
Section 422 also makes conforming changes to Section
6 of the CIA Act of 1949.
Section 423.
Additional exception to foreign language proficiency
requirement for certain senior level positions in
the Central Intelligence Agency
Section 423 modifies statutory provisions pertaining
to foreign language proficiency for certain senior
officials in the CIA. Currently, Section 104A(g)
of the National Security Act of 1947 (Section 421
of the Committee's bill results in the re-designation
of Section 104A(g) as 104A(h)) provides that an
individual cannot be appointed to a position in
the Senior Intelligence Service in the CIA's Directorate
of Intelligence (DI) or Directorate of Operations
(DO) (now the National Clandestine Service) unless
the individual demonstrates at least a specified
level of professional speaking and reading proficiency
in a foreign language. Current law also grants the
Director of the CIA limited authority to waive this
requirement with respect to a position or class
of positions with notification to the intelligence
committees.
Section 423 enhances CIA management flexibility
by authorizing the Director of the CIA to waive
the foreign language proficiency requirement, not
just with respect to positions or categories of
positions, but also as to individual officers or
categories of individual officers--subject to the
Director of the CIA's determination that such proficiency
is not necessary for the successful performance
of the duties and responsibilities involved. The
section also adds a `grandfather' clause to the
language proficiency requirement, creating a transition
period that will allow CIA leadership to more effectively
manage the senior Agency workforce during a critical
period of change. Section 423 also updates an outdated
reference to the DO, now the `National Clandestine
Service.' Finally, Section 423 makes appropriate
conforming changes to the report on waivers currently
required by Section 104A(g).
The Committee expects the CIA to move forward in
its commitment to enhance its overall language capabilities.
The personnel flexibility granted by Section 423
will allow the Director of the CIA to better integrate
requirements for language skills into leadership
training, promotion,
and retention decisions
and to plan for the projected influx of new DI and
National Clandestine Service officers.
Section 424.
Additional functions and authorities for protective
personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency
Section 424 amends Section 5(a)(4)
of the CIA Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 403f(a)(4)) which
authorizes protective functions by designated security
personnel who serve on CIA protective details.
Arrest authority
Section 424 authorizes protective detail personnel,
when engaged in the performance of protective functions,
to make arrests in two circumstances. Under this
section, protective detail personnel may make arrests
without a warrant for any offense against the United States--whether a felony, misdemeanor,
or infraction--that is committed in their presence.
They may also make arrests without a warrant if
they have reasonable grounds to believe that the
person to be arrested has committed or is committing
a felony, but not other offenses, under the laws
of the United States.
Regulations, approved by the Director of the CIA
and the Attorney General, will provide safeguards
and procedures to ensure the proper exercise of
this authority. The provision specifically does
not grant any authority to serve civil process or
to investigate crimes.
By granting CIA protective detail personnel limited
arrest authority, the provision mirrors statutes
applicable to certain Federal law enforcement agencies
that are authorized to perform protective functions.
The authority provided under this section is consistent
with those of other Federal elements with protective
functions, such as the Secret Service (see 18 U.S.C.
3056(c)(1)(c)), the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service
(see 22 U.S.C. 2709(a)(5)), and the Capitol Police
(see 2 U.S.C. 1966(c)). Arrest authority will contribute
significantly to the ability of CIA protective detail
personnel to fulfill their responsibilities to protect
officials against serious threats without being
dependent on the response of Federal, State, or
local law enforcement officers. The grant of arrest
authority under this amendment is supplemental to
all other authority that CIA protective detail personnel
have by virtue of their statutory responsibility
to perform the protective functions set forth in
the CIA Act of 1949.
Protection of personnel of the Office of the
DNI
Section 424 also authorizes the Director of the
CIA, on request of the DNI, to make CIA protective
detail personnel available to the DNI and to other
personnel within the Office of the DNI. The DNI,
in consultation with the Director of the CIA and
the Attorney General, should advise the intelligence
committees within 180 days of enactment of this
Act on whether this arrangement meets the protective
needs of the Office of the DNI or whether other
statutory authority is needed.
Section 425.
Director of National Intelligence report on retirement
benefits for former employees of Air America
Section 425 provides for a report by the DNI on
the advisability of providing federal retirement
benefits to United
States citizens who were employees
of Air America or an associated company prior to 1977,
during the time that the company was owned or controlled
by the United States and operated
by the CIA. There are bills in the Senate and House
(S. 651 and H.R. 1276) that would provide federal
retirement benefits for those employees. By including
Section 425 in this authorization bill, the Committee
takes no position on the merits of that legislation.
The sole purpose of Section 425 is to direct the
DNI to undertake a study about Air America, its
relationship to the CIA, the missions it performed,
and casualties its employees suffered, as well as
the retirement benefits that had been contracted
for, or promised to, the employees and what they
received. The DNI shall make recommendations on
the advisability of legislative action and include
any views that the Director of the CIA may have
on the matters covered by the report. On the request
of the DNI, the Comptroller General shall assist
in the preparation of the report in a manner consistent
with the protection of classified information.
SUBTITLE C--DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE COMPONENTS
Section 431.
Enhancements of National Security Agency training
program
Section 16 of the NSA Act of 1959 (50 U.S.C. 402
note) authorizes the NSA to establish and maintain
an undergraduate training program to facilitate
the recruitment of individuals with skills critical
to the NSA's mission.
Under the program, the government has always had
the right to recoup the educational costs expended
for the benefit of employees whose employment with
NSA is `terminated'--either voluntarily by the employee
or by the NSA for misconduct.
Section 431 amends Section 16(d) of the NSA Act
of 1959 to clarify that `termination of employment'
includes situations in which employees fail to maintain
satisfactory academic performance as defined by
the Director of NSA. Such employees shall be in
breach of their contractual agreement and, in lieu
of any service obligation arising under such agreement,
shall be liable for repayment. Failure to maintain
satisfactory academic performance has always been
grounds for default resulting in the right of the
government to recoup the educational costs expended
for the benefit of the defaulting employee. Thus,
this provision is a clarification of that obligation.
In addition, Section 431 permits the Director of
NSA to protect intelligence sources and methods
by deleting a requirement that the NSA publicly
identify to educational institutions which students
are NSA employees. Deletion of this disclosure requirement
will enhance the ability of NSA to protect personnel
and prospective personnel and to preserve the ability
of training program participants to undertake future
clandestine or other sensitive assignments for the
Intelligence Community. The Committee recognizes
that nondisclosure is appropriate when disclosure
would threaten intelligence sources or methods,
would endanger the life or safety of the student,
or would limit the employee's or prospective employee's
ability to perform intelligence
activities in the future.
Despite the deletion of the disclosure requirement,
the Committee expects the NSA to continue to prohibit
participants in the training program from engaging
in any intelligence functions at the institutions
they attend under the program. See H.R. Rep. 99-690,
Part I (July 17, 1986) (`NSA employees attending
an institution under the program will have no intelligence
function whatever to perform at the institution.').
Section 432.
Codification of authorities of National Security
Agency protective personnel
Section 432 amends the NSA Act of 1959 (50 U.S.C.
402 note) by adding a new Section 20, to clarify
and enhance the authority of protective details
for the NSA.
New Section 20(a) would authorize the Director
of the NSA to designate NSA personnel to perform
protective detail functions for the Director and
other personnel of the NSA who are designated from
time to time by the Director of the NSA as requiring
protection. Section 11 of the NSA Act of 1959 presently
provides that the Director of NSA may authorize
agency personnel to perform certain security functions
at NSA headquarters, at certain other facilities,
and around the perimeter of those facilities. The
new authority for protective details would enable
the Director of the NSA to provide security when
the Director or other designated personnel require
security away from those facilities.
New Section 20(b) would provide that NSA personnel,
when performing protective detail functions, may
exercise the same arrest authority that Section
424 provides for CIA protective detail personnel.
The arrest authority for NSA protective detail personnel
would be subject to guidelines approved by the Director
of the NSA and the Attorney General. The purpose
and extent of that arrest authority, and the limitations
on it, are described in the section-by-section explanation
for Section 424. That analysis applies equally to
the arrest authority provided to NSA protective
detail personnel by Section 20(b).
While this bill provides separately for authority
for CIA and NSA protective details, the DNI should
advise the intelligence committees whether overall
policies, procedure, and authority should be provided
for protective services, when necessary, for other
elements or personnel (or their immediate families)
of the Intelligence Community.
Section 433.
Inspector general matters
The Inspector General Act of
1978 (Pub. L. No. 95-452 (Oct. 12, 1978))
established a government-wide system of Inspectors
General, some appointed by the President with the
advice and consent of the Senate and others `administratively
appointed' by the heads of their respective Federal
entities. These Inspectors General were authorized
to `conduct and supervise audits and investigations
relating to the programs and operations' of the
government and `to promote economy, efficiency,
and effectiveness in the administration of, and
* * * to prevent and detect fraud and abuse in,
such programs and operations.' See 5 U.S.C. App.
2. These Inspectors General also perform an important
reporting function, `keeping the head of the establishment
and the Congress fully and currently informed about
problems and deficiencies relating to the administration
of * * * programs and operations and the necessity
for and progress of corrective action.' Id.
The investigative authorities exercised by Inspectors
General, and their relative independence from the
government operations they audit and investigate,
provide an important mechanism to ensure that the
operations of the government are conducted as efficiently
and effectively as possible.
The Inspectors General of the CIA and the Departments
of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice,
State, and Treasury are appointed by the President,
with the advice and consent of the Senate. These
Inspectors General--authorized by either the Inspectors
General Act of 1978 or Section 17 of the CIA Act
of 1949--enjoy a degree of independence from all
but the head of their respective departments or
agencies. These Inspectors General also have explicit
statutory authority to access information from their
respective departments or agencies or other United
States government departments and agencies and may
use subpoenas to access information (e.g., from
a department or agency contractor) necessary for
them to carry out their authorized functions.
The NRO, DIA, NSA, and NGA have established their
own `administrative' Inspectors General. Because
they are not identified in Section 8G of the Inspector
General Act of 1978, however, these Inspectors General
lack the explicit statutory authorization to access
information relevant to their audits or investigations,
or to compel the production of such information
via subpoena. This lack of authority has impeded
access to information--in particular, information
from contractors--that is necessary for these Inspectors
General to perform their important function. These
Inspectors General also lack the indicia of independence
necessary for the Government Accountability Office
to recognize the annual financial statement audits
of these Inspectors General as compliant with the
Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (Pub. L. No.
101-576 (Nov. 15, 1990)). This lack of independence
also prevents the DoD
Inspector General, and would prevent the Inspector
General of the Intelligence Community, from relying
on the results of NRO, DIA, NSA, or NGA Inspector
General audits or investigations
that must meet `generally accepted government auditing
standards.'
To provide an additional level of independence
and to ensure prompt access to the information necessary
for these Inspectors General to perform their audits
and investigations, Section 433 amends Section 8G(a)(2)
of the Inspector General Act of 1978 to include
the NRO, DIA, NSA, and NGA as `designated federal
entities.' As so designated, the heads of these
Intelligence Community elements will be required
by statute to administratively appoint Inspectors
General for these agencies. As designated Inspectors
General under the Inspector General Act of 1978,
these Inspectors General will be responsible to
the heads of the NRO, DIA, NSA, and NGA. The removal
or transfer of these Inspectors General from their
post by the heads of their respective office or
agency must be promptly reported to the intelligence
committees. These Inspectors General will also be
able to exercise other investigative authorities,
including those governing access to information
and the issuance of subpoenas, utilized by other
Inspectors General under the Inspector General Act
of 1978.
To protect vital national security interests, Section
433 permits the DNI or the Secretary of Defense
to prohibit the Inspectors General of the NRO, DIA,
NSA, and NGA from initiating, carrying out, or completing
any audit or investigation they are otherwise authorized
to conduct. This authority-similar to the authority
of the Director of the CIA under Section 17 of the
CIA Act of 1949 with respect to the Inspector General
of the CIA and the authority of the Secretary of
Defense under Section 8 of the Inspector General
Act of 1978 with respect to the DoD
Inspector General-provides the President, through
the DNI or the Secretary of Defense, a mechanism
to protect extremely sensitive intelligence sources
and methods or other vital national security interests.
The Committee expects that this authority will be
exercised rarely by the DNI or the Secretary of
Defense.
Section 434.
Confirmation of appointment of heads of certain
components of the Intelligence Community
Under present law and practice, the directors of
the NSA, NGA, and NRO--each with a distinct and
significant role in the national intelligence mission--are
not confirmed by the Senate in relation to their
leadership positions at these agencies. Presently,
the President appoints the Directors of NSA and
NGA, and the Secretary of Defense appoints the Director
of the NRO. None of the appointments must be confirmed
by the Senate, unless a military officer is promoted
or transferred into the position. Under such circumstances,
Senate confirmation of the officer's promotion or
assignment to that position is the responsibility
of the Committee on Armed Services. The review of
the Committee on Armed Services, however, relates
to the military promotion or assignment and not
specifically to the assumption by the individual
of the leadership of these critical Intelligence
Community elements.
Section 434 provides, expressly and uniformly,
that the heads of each of these entities shall be
nominated by the President and that such nominations
will be confirmed by the advice and consent of the
Senate. The NSA, NGA, and NRO play a critical role
in the national intelligence mission of the United States government.
The spending of these agencies comprises a significant
portion of the entire intelligence budget of the
United States, and a substantial portion of the
National Intelligence Program. Through advice and
consent, the Senate can enable the Congress to fulfill
more completely its responsibility for providing
oversight to the intelligence activities of the
U.S. Government. Section 434 does not alter the
role of the Committee on Armed Services in reviewing
and approving the promotion or assignment of military
officers.
Section 434(b) provides that the amendments made
by Section 434 apply prospectively. Therefore, the
Directors of NSA, NGA, and NRO as of the date of
the enactment of this Act will not be affected by
the amendments, which will apply initially to the
appointment and confirmation of their successors.
Section 435.
Clarification of national security missions of National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for analysis and
dissemination of certain intelligence information
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency Act of
1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-201 (Sept. 23, 1996) (NIMA
Act)) formally merged the imagery analysis and mapping
efforts of the DoD
and the CIA. In the NIMA Act, Congress cited a need
`to provide a single agency focus for the growing
number and diverse types of customers for imagery
and geospatial information resources within the
Government * * * to harness, leverage, and focus
rapid technological developments to serve the imagery,
imagery intelligence, and geospatial information
customers.' See Section 1102(1) of the NIMA Act.
Since then, there have been rapid developments in
airborne and commercial imagery platforms, new imagery
and geospatial phenomenology, full motion video,
and geospatial analysis tools.
Section 921 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Pub.
L. No. 108-136 (Nov. 24, 2003)) changed the name
of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency to the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The name
change was intended to introduce the term `geospatial
intelligence' to better describe the unified activities
of the NGA related to the `analysis and visual representation
of characteristics of the earth and activity on
its surface.' See S. Rep 108-46 (May 13, 2003) (accompanying
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2004, S. 1050, 108th Cong., 1st Sess.).
Though the NGA has made significant progress toward
unifying the traditional imagery analysis and mapping
missions of the CIA and the DoD,
it has been slow to embrace other facets of `geospatial
intelligence' that have recently been enabled by
advances in technology, including the processing,
storage, and dissemination of full motion video
(FMV) and ground-based photography. The NGA's
current library of geospatial products reflects
its heritage--predominantly overhead imagery and
mapping products. While the NGA is beginning to
incorporate more airborne and commercial imagery,
its products are nearly devoid of FMV and ground-based
photography.
The Committee believes that these new products
(including FMV and ground-based photography) should
be included, with available positional data, in
NGA libraries for retrieval on DoD
and Intelligence Community networks. Current mission
planners and military personnel are well-served
with traditional imagery products and maps, but
FMV of the route to and from a facility or photographs
of what a facility would look like to a foot soldier--rather
than from an aircraft--would be of immense value
to our military personnel and intelligence officers.
Ground-based photography is amply available from
open sources, as well as other government sources
such as military units, U.S.
embassy personnel, Defense AttachEs,
Special Operations Forces, foreign allies, and clandestine
officers. These products should be better incorporated
into NGA data libraries.
To address these concerns, Section 435 adds an
additional national security mission to the responsibilities
of the NGA. To fulfill this new mission, the NGA
would be required, as directed by the DNI, to `analyze,
disseminate, and incorporate into the National System
for
Geospatial-Intelligence, likenesses, videos, or
presentations produced by ground-based platforms,
including handheld or clandestine photography taken
by or on behalf of human intelligence collection
organizations or available as open-source information.'
Section 435 also makes clear that this new responsibility
`does not include the authority to manage or direct
the tasking of, set requirements and priorities
for, set technical requirements related to, or modify
any classification or dissemination limitations
related to the collection of, handheld or clandestine
photography taken by or on behalf or human intelligence
collection organizations.' Although Section 435
does not give the NGA direct authority to set technical
requirements for the collection of `handheld or
clandestine photography,' the Committee encourages
the NGA to engage Intelligence Community partners
on these technical requirements to ensure that their
output can be incorporated into the National System
for Geospatial-Intelligence.
Section 435 does not modify the definition of `imagery'
found in Section 467(2)(A) of Title 10, United States
Code, or alter any of the existing national security
missions of the NGA. Section 435 stresses the merits
of FMV and ground-based photography and clarifies
that the NIMA Act's exclusion of `handheld or clandestine
photography taken by or on behalf of human intelligence
organizations' from the definition of `imagery'
does not prevent the exploitation, dissemination,
and archiving of that photography. In other words,
the NGA would still not dictate how human intelligence
agencies collect ground-based photography, have
authority to modify the classification or dissemination
limitations applicable to such photography, or manage
collection requirements for such photography. Rather,
the NGA should simply avail itself of this photography,
regardless of the source, but within the security
handling guidelines consistent with the photography's
classification as determined by the collecting organization.
Section 436.
Security clearances in the National Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency
Although the NSA and the NGA have much in common
as technical intelligence agencies administratively
linked with the DoD,
their present authorities for handling security
clearances differ significantly. The Secretary of
Defense has delegated to the NSA authority for contracting
out background investigations and performing adjudications
on individuals doing work for the agency--both for
government employees and contractors. In contrast,
the NGA must rely on the Defense Security Service
(DSS) or the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
for background investigations and on the DIA for
adjudication. The consequences for processing times
are dramatic, particularly regarding contractor
clearances. According to information provided by
the DNI's Special Security Center,
the average end-to-end processing times for contractors
in July 2005 was 73 days for NSA and 540 days for
NGA. The NSA and the NGA processing times for contractors
in the first quarter of fiscal year 2006 showed
that this significant discrepancy is continuing.
Moreover, the ability of the DSS to mitigate the
problem suffered a setback on April 25, 2006, when
the DSS temporarily suspended its acceptance of
new contractor security clearance applications.
The NGA's long backlog
for contractor clearances is deleterious for both
the agency and the contractors that support it.
For the NGA, the backlog drives up financial costs
and makes it more difficult to compete for talent.
The backlog also distorts efficiencies and good
business practices in the private sector, as contractors
adjust to the realities of significantly different
agency clearance timelines.
The Committee calls upon the DNI to follow closely
the progress made by the NGA in reducing processing
times and to monitor the variation between the processing
times of other intelligence agencies with similar
requirements. The Committee anticipates that the
arrangement created by Section 436 will be a temporary
measure, pending the consistent attainment of reduced
processing times by the OPM, the DIA, and the DSS.
SUBTITLE D--OTHER ELEMENTS
Section 441.
Foreign language incentive for certain non-special
agent employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Section 441 authorizes the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to pay a cash award,
up to 5 percent of basic pay, to any FBI employee
who uses or maintains foreign language skills in
support of FBI analyses, investigations, or operations
to protect against international terrorism or clandestine
intelligence activities. Such awards are subject
to the joint guidance of the Attorney General and
the DNI.
The Committee believes that the guidance of the
Attorney General and DNI should reward FBI employees
who are using one or more foreign languages in the
regular performance of their official duties or
maintaining proficiency in an obscure language that
is of occasional operational significance. An employee
should not automatically receive a 5 percent award
for proficiency in any language. An FBI employee
working in support of the FBI's counterintelligence
mission who is fluent in French, German, or Spanish
should not be eligible for a foreign language incentive,
unless that employee is using those language skills
in the regular performance of his or her official
duties. However, the joint guidance should recognize
that there are certain languages of operational
significance that are not used on a routine basis,
but for which a significant incentive should be
awarded to maintain the necessary proficiency so
that the employee can use the skill for operational
purposes when the need arises. Finally, the joint
guidelines should also provide for enhanced language
incentive awards for those employees who use multiple
languages in the performance of their duties, provided
that no language incentive award can exceed the
cap of 5 percent of basic pay.
Section 442.
Authority to secure services by contract for the
Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the Department
of State
Section 442 authorizes the Secretary of State,
in certain circumstances, to enter into personal
services contracts to support the mission of the
Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research
(INR). The authority, which is similar to that provided
to the DoD (see 10 U.S.C.
129b), will enable INR to obtain the services of
personal services contractors to respond to unanticipated
surge requirements prompted by emergent events or
crises or under unique circumstances (e.g., to provide
temporary backup that will permit full-time employees
to seek
needed training). Personal
services contractors, particularly those with previous
INR experience, would also be valuable to train
and mentor new INR personnel.
Section 443.
Clarification of inclusion of Coast Guard and Drug
Enforcement Administration as elements of the Intelligence
Community
Section 443 restores, with respect to the United
States Coast Guard, the prior definition of `intelligence
community' in the National Security Act of 1947
applicable to that service. See 50 U.S.C. 401a.
Section 1073 of the Intelligence Reform Act modified
the definition of `intelligence community,' inadvertently
limiting the Coast Guard's inclusion in the Intelligence
Community to the Office of Intelligence or those
portions of the Coast Guard concerned with the analysis
of intelligence. Section 444 clarifies that all
of the Coast Guard's intelligence elements are included
within the definition of `intelligence community.'
Section 443 also codifies the joint decision of
the DNI and Attorney General to designate an office
within the Drug Enforcement Administration as an
element of the Intelligence Community.
Section 444.
Clarifying amendments relating to Section 105 of
the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2004
Section 444 clarifies that the establishment of
the Office of Intelligence and Analysis within the
Department of the Treasury (Section 105 of the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Pub. L.
No. 108-177 (Dec. 13, 2003))), and its reorganization
within the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
(Section 222 of the Transportation, Treasury, Independent
Agencies, and General Government Appropriations
Act, 2005 (Division H, Pub. L. No. 108-447
(Dec. 8, 2004))), do not affect the authorities
and responsibilities of the DNI with respect to
the Office of Intelligence and Analysis as an element
of the Intelligence Community.
TITLE V--OTHER MATTERS
Section 501.
Technical amendments to the National Security Act
of 1947
Section 501 corrects several inadvertent technical
anomalies in the National Security Act of 1947 arising
from the amendments made to that Act by the Intelligence
Reform Act.
Section 502.
Technical clarification of certain references to
Joint Military Intelligence Program and Tactical
Intelligence and Related Activities
Section 502 makes technical clarifications to Section
102A of the National Security Act of 1947 to preserve
the participation of the DNI in the development
of the annual budget for the Military Intelligence
Program (MIP), the successor program of the Joint
Military Intelligence Program and Tactical Intelligence
and Related Activities. Section 502 also preserves
the requirement for consultation by the Secretary
of the Defense with the DNI in the reprogramming
or transfer of MIP funds.
Section 503.
Technical amendments to the Intelligence Reform
and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
Section 503 corrects a number of inadvertent technical
errors in the specified sections of the Intelligence
Reform Act.
Section 504.
Technical amendments to Title 10, United
States Code, arising from enactment
of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention
Act of 2004
Section 504 corrects a number of inadvertent technical
errors in Title 10, United States Code, arising
from enactment of the Intelligence Reform Act.
Section 505.
Technical amendment to the Central Intelligence
Agency Act of 1949
Section 505 amends Section 5(a)(1)
of the CIA Act of 1949 by striking or updating outdated
references to the National Security Act of 1947.
The Intelligence Reform Act significantly restructured
and renumbered multiple sections of the National
Security Act of 1947, leaving references in Section
5(a)(1) of the CIA Act to provisions that no longer
exist or that are no longer pertinent.
Section 506.
Technical amendments relating to the multiyear National
Intelligence Program
Section 506 updates the `multiyear national foreign
intelligence program' provision to incorporate and
reflect organizational and nomenclature changes
made by the Intelligence Reform Act.
Section 507.
Technical amendments to the Executive Schedule
Section 507 makes several technical corrections
to the Executive Schedule. This section substitutes
the `Director of the Central Intelligence Agency'
for the previous reference in Executive Schedule
Level II to the `Director of Central Intelligence.'
See 5 U.S.C. 5313. Section 507 also strikes outdated
references to Deputy Directors of Central Intelligence
from Executive Schedule Level III. See 5 U.S.C.
5314. The provision also corrects the erroneous
reference to the `General Counsel to the National
Intelligence Director' in Executive Schedule Level
IV. See 5 U.S.C. 5315.
Section 508.
Technical amendments relating to redesignation
of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency as the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Section 508 makes several technical and conforming
changes to existing law to bring these provisions
in line with the change in name of the National
Imagery and Mapping Agency to the
NGA, as provided for in Section 921(b) of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Pub.
L. No. 108-136 (Nov. 24, 2003)).
COMMITTEE COMMENTS
Information access: `Data-level' information
Since September 11, 2001, information sharing at
the level of finished intelligence reporting has
improved greatly within the Intelligence Community.
Intelligence Community officers are sensitized to
the need to notify others whenever potentially significant
information comes to their attention. Communications
and liaison among agencies are also much improved.
Despite these much needed advances, the Committee
is concerned that information access at the `raw'
or `data level'--where information has not yet been
evaluated or minimized to protect U.S. person information--continues to lag behind
Committee expectations. This `raw' or `data-level'
information includes everything from `raw' intelligence
(e.g., operational details in a human intelligence
report) to partly processed and analyzed information
(e.g., metadata, stored text, stored cable traffic,
translated and transcribed audio files). `Connecting
the dots' is only possible if appropriately cleared
analysts, with a `need-to-know,' have access to
those `dots.' Finished reporting often fails to contain all information relevant
to a particular topic or issue of importance to
an analyst or collection officer. These oversights
are not surprising; the perspective of a reports
officer is often quite different than that of an
analyst or collection officer who may be interested
in different pieces of information relevant to their
target. In other words, data that may seem insignificant
or unimportant to a reports officer may fill in
a missing puzzle piece for an analyst or expose
a critical weakness for a collection officer to
exploit. For that reason, this Committee has continued
to support greater `raw' or `data-level' access.
Agencies and organizations often resist providing
access to `raw' or `data-level' information on security
or privacy grounds--concerns that are significantly
mitigated when those with access are appropriately
cleared, have an established `need-to-know,' and
are bound by control mechanisms to ensure appropriate
protections for security and privacy. The Committee
has also found, however, that a misplaced sense
of `ownership' by the collecting agency often inhibits
information access programs.
To begin addressing concerns with `data-level'
access, Section 317 of the Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Pub. L. No. 108-177 (Dec.
13, 2003)) mandated that the DCI and Secretary of
Defense establish a pilot program to assess the
`feasibility and advisability of permitting intelligence
analysts of various elements of the intelligence
community to access and analyze intelligence from
the databases of other elements of the intelligence
community.' To implement this provision, a pilot
program was established that granted the DIA Joint
Intelligence Task Force--Combating Terrorism (JITF-CT)
access to signals intelligence information in NSA
databases. The NSA/DIA pilot program ran for approximately
one year, ending in February 2005. According to
reports from both agencies, the pilot successfully
established the value of sharing `data-level' information,
the feasibility of non-NSA analysts gaining access
to `raw' signals intelligence, and the means and
procedures necessary to protect privacy in the process.
Although the database access and liaison relationships
formed during the pilot program have been sustained
at NSA and DIA, the Committee is concerned that
database access has not been expanded, despite an
ardent desire on the part of the JITF-CT. The Committee
is also concerned that negotiations on a Memorandum
of Agreement (MOA) designed to extend NSA database
access to other DIA analysts outside of the JITF-CT
have not been completed, despite a year of negotiations
on the topic.
The Committee directs the NSA and the DIA to complete
negotiations on the MOA by the end of August 2006.
The Committee strongly encourages the direct involvement
of the Office of the DNI in these negotiations.
If disputes cannot be resolved by the NSA and the
DIA directly, the DNI must exercise his responsibility
`to ensure maximum availability of and access to
intelligence information within the intelligence
community.' See Section 102A(g)
of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.
403-1(g)). If the MOA is not finished by this deadline,
the Committee will seek stronger measures in conference
with the House on the Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2007 to ensure timely completion.
Once completed, this MOA should be posted on Intelink,
and the NSA and DIA should also post a generic set
of procedures, derived from the MOA and their experience
with the pilot program, to inform other interested
intelligence organizations of the requirements for
access to NSA and DIA data. The DNI should establish
a process for reviewing and approving access to
other Intelligence Community databases based on
the model provided by the NSA/DIA MOA. If other
Intelligence Community elements have a demonstrated
need for access to information, they should work
with the DNI, or his designee within the Office
of the DNI, to draft similar information access
MOAs. The DNI should process
all requests for database access and, in a timely
manner, inform requesting organizations of the decision
of the Office of the DNI, provide an explanation
of the bases for any rejections, and establish a
mechanism to appeal access denials.
Finally, the Committee directs the CIO of the Intelligence
Community, the Deputy Director of National Intelligence
for Analysis, the Deputy Director of National Intelligence
for Customer Outcomes, and the Program Manager for
the Information Sharing Environment to carefully
examine proposals to standardize interfaces among
NSA legacy databases. These databases were typically
designed with a unique interface. These unique interfaces
have inhibited the development and application of
advanced analytic tools at the NSA. If a standard
interface can be developed and advanced analytic
tools made available to NSA analysts, these same
analytic tools can be made available to other Intelligence
Community elements with a demonstrated need to access
NSA `data-level' information. A standardized approach
to database interface could also be applied to other
Intelligence Community databases. Properly designed
and implemented, this technology could allow cross-agency
`federated queries,' broader database access for
analysts, and much greater ease of access to important
intelligence information.
Information access: Communities of interest
The NSA/DIA pilot program on information sharing--and
other information access activities throughout the
Intelligence Community--introduced an additional
concept to help support information access: sharing
information freely among analysts from different
agencies and disciplines who are assigned to a common
mission, which establishes their `need to know'
and forms the basis for close collaboration, virtually
or through physical co-location. For ease of reference,
this concept can be summarized as full and equal
access within a `community of interest.' This `community
of interest' would operate by providing `raw' or
`data-level' access to intelligence analysts and
collection managers working on common missions across
agencies and disciplines and by co-locating these
analysts and collectors. Experts in single disciplines
would help all-source analysts and collection managers
understand and interpret the information they access.
Evaluation of the NSA/DIA pilot program led DIA
to conclude that there would be tremendous value
in organizing `communities of interest' with equal
access to all relevant data `at the first point
of usability.' Having experts on hand from each
discipline would help all-source analysts better
understand the information provided by the collection
agencies, and all-source analysts would help the
analysts from the collection agencies understand
context and requirements.
The Committee strongly encourages the creation
of `communities of interest' organized in this way.
These `communities of interest' would not be a substitute
for broad information access programs, but a mechanism
for deriving the full benefit from such programs.
The Committee directs the DNI, in collaboration
with the Directors of NSA, CIA, DIA, and NGA, to
develop a pilot program to permit all-source analysts
from across the Intelligence Community to work directly
with experts from the intelligence collection disciplines
(human, signal, imagery, and open source intelligence).
The pilot program should be conducted on a non-terrorism
related, high-priority intelligence target. The
collaboration can be achieved by co-location or
by virtual collaboration. The assigned analysts
should have common access to all data relevant to
the designated target from across the collection
disciplines. The pilot program should be initiated
by January 1, 2007, and should continue for at least
one year. Following completion of the pilot program,
the DNI should report back to the intelligence committees
concerning any findings or recommendations relevant
to the pilot program, including any recommendations
for further legislation or funding to further promote
information access.
Report on the creation of an Intelligence Community
reserve account
Since its creation, the CIA has utilized a `reserve
for contingencies' that permitted the DCI (now,
the Director of the CIA) to transfer funds, with
appropriate notification to Congress, to address
significant intelligence needs that arise during
a fiscal year and that must be addressed outside
the normal budget process. The CIA Reserve has proven
crucial in permitting the flexibility required to
address operational realities as they arise.
As the Committee continues to examine the budgetary
and management authorities of the DNI, it may be
appropriate to provide the DNI with a `reserve for
contingencies' for use across the Intelligence Community
to address emergency needs or operational exigencies.
Any grant of authority would require legislative
action outlining specific limitations on use, requirements
for notification to the intelligence committees,
and strong control by the DNI. Under extremely limited
circumstances and with prior notification to Congress,
it may also be appropriate to permit the DNI to
transfer certain limited categories of funds to
this reserve account for use without fiscal year
limitation. The flexibility of a reserve and the
ability to transfer funds to a reserve for later
use would require a strong commitment from the DNI
to eliminate waste in budget requests and to fully
comply with the requirement to produce independent
cost estimates for major systems, as required by
Section 506A of the National Security Act of 1947.
In addition, the DNI would need to closely examine
how the reserve account is used so that excessive
balances were not maintained in the account over
extended periods of time.
To aid the Committee as it considers possible legislative
action on this topic, the Committee directs the
DNI to provide a report to the intelligence committees
within 90 days of release of this Report concerning
the possible creation of a `reserve for contingencies'
for the Intelligence Community and whether the reserve
would provide needed budgetary and operational flexibility.
The DNI should also report to the intelligence committees
regarding the management of existing reserve accounts,
including steps the Office of the DNI will take
to ensure that excessive balances are not maintained
in these reserves for extended periods. The DNI
should also provide any additional information deemed
appropriate related to this topic, including any
specific recommendations regarding the creation
or construction of a `reserve for contingencies'
for the Intelligence Community or other authorities
needed to provide needed budgetary flexibility.
Central Intelligence Agency non-official cover
operations
The Committee remains concerned that the CIA has
not yet fully addressed concerns about the use of
non-official cover (NOC): operational security for
NOC officers, support for NOC operations, and the
extent to which the National Clandestine Service
is committed to doing what is needed to ensure that
NOC operations are successful. The Committee is
also concerned with the training and use of NOC
officer candidates and the overuse of certain NOC
cover vehicles, at the expense of investing time
and resources in creating new and innovative methodologies.
The Committee therefore directs that the CIA provide
a classified report by December 31, 2006, providing
details on the status of their non-official operations
initiatives, including the use of NOC officers and
non-official platforms; steps taken by the CIA to
ensure operational security for NOC officers; an
assessment of the emerging threats posed by technological
developments to NOC operations; and the steps that
the CIA has taken to expand the non-official methodologies
available for operational use. The report should
also highlight areas that need improvement and offer
recommendations for any legislative or resource
initiatives that would enhance human intelligence
collection and covert action through the use of
NOC operations.
Intelligence Community personnel growth
Shortly after September 11, 2001, the Intelligence
Community began an aggressive campaign to recruit
and hire both government and contractor personnel
to support the war on terrorism. According to the
Administration's current projections, the number
of Intelligence Community personnel will continue
to increase at a steady pace over the next several
years. In February 2005, the Committee initiated
an audit to examine the full scope of activities
and resources necessary to support the Administration's
proposed personnel growth, as well as the underlying
requirements and projected mission impact. The results
of the audit indicate that the Intelligence Community
faces significant challenges implementing the proposed
growth.
The Committee is concerned that the up-front processes
necessary to support personnel growth, including
recruiting, screening, hiring, and training programs
are already overburdened and that additional new
employees could cripple the system. As more seasoned
employees retire and new employees enter the workforce,
the Intelligence Community will also face significant
challenges finding sufficiently experienced officers
to mentor and manage these new hires. Even at current
personnel levels, the Intelligence Community has
indicated that it lacks adequate secure space for
cleared employees. Despite proposed growth, the
Intelligence Community has been unable to quantify
the facility requirements associated with new hires.
Despite the plainly obvious lack of preparedness,
the Intelligence Community continues to implement
the hiring process associated with the proposed
growth.
The Committee is also concerned that the full scope
of the proposed personnel growth is ill defined.
There are no specific documented requirements for
the additional personnel. Indeed, the generic `more
is better' argument appears to be the driving force
behind the proposals. The Intelligence Community
also cannot quantify future contractor requirements
and is unable to determine whether the number of
contractors will increase or decrease as more personnel
are hired. The Committee has seen no metrics that
would link the additional proposed personnel to
improvements in the Intelligence Community's ability
to detect, predict, analyze, and counter current
and future threats to the United
States.
Given the identified deficiencies associated with
the proposed personnel growth and the significant
funding problems already facing the Intelligence
Community, the Committee is concerned that the Administration's
proposal may not be achievable. Due to the significant
funding requirements projected from fiscal year
2007 through fiscal year 2011, the proposed personnel
growth will rival, if not surpass, the costs associated
with a major system acquisition. As with any other
major and costly acquisition program, the Intelligence
Community must take immediate steps to define the
mission needs, relate those mission needs to specific,
validated requirements, and provide detailed plans
for funding the proposed growth. To address the
aforementioned concerns, the Committee is fencing
funds related to such growth and directs the DNI
to provide a comprehensive personnel growth strategy,
as outlined in the classified annex.
Intelligence Community document and media exploitation
audit
The Committee, through its Audit and Evaluation
Staff, is currently reviewing the Intelligence Community's
document and media exploitation (DOCEX) activities.
The Committee is concerned that
current DOCEX activities are uncoordinated
and that too many disparate efforts exist, with
little transparency among Intelligence Community
elements. The Committee is encouraged by the broader
role for the National Media Exploitation Center
(NMEC) outlined in a December 2005 letter from the
PDDNI to the Director of the DIA concerning Intelligence
Community centers. Indeed, the Committee believes
that the NMEC should serve to integrate all of the
Intelligence Community's DOCEX elements, not merely
those of the DIA. Without Intelligence Community-wide
leadership on this issue, there will be unnecessary
duplication of effort and insufficient access to
information obtained by, or through, DOCEX activities.
The Committee is also concerned about several funding
issues. Funding for DOCEX activities currently resides
in several different budget accounts. This segregation
makes it exceedingly difficult to assess aggregate
Intelligence Community DOCEX expenditures and to
coordinate Intelligence Community investment strategies.
There also appears to be significant redundancy
in the funding of translation tools, technology,
and research and development initiatives. Intelligence
Community elements have also failed to leverage
existing technology and translation capabilities
to improve DOCEX activities. Based on these redundant
capabilities and inability to leverage existing
capabilities, the Intelligence Community appears
to be funding duplicative technology development
efforts.
The Committee believes that current efforts to
provide access to information derived by, or through,
DOCEX activities are inadequate. Unless this information
is readily accessible to the intelligence collectors
and analysts who need it, these DOCEX efforts will
be largely fruitless. For example, the HARMONY database
is intended to be the Intelligence Community's centralized
national repository for foreign military, technical,
and open-source documents, including documents and
media captured or collected to support the global
war on terrorism and Operation Iraqi Freedom. While
HARMONY is accessible to most intelligence officers,
it is not widely used outside the DoD. Moreover, some Intelligence Community elements
maintain their own, separate DOCEX databases, limiting
access to only employees of that element. The Committee
also notes, with concern, that
a significant amount of intelligence information
from documents and media is never posted to HARMONY
because the Intelligence Community lacks standards
for what constitutes a `document exploitation' activity
or any common processes to ensure proper dissemination
of the information. The Committee believes that
documents and media that do not constitute sensitive
information should be accessible throughout the
Intelligence Community via a single database that
truly functions as a national repository for DOCEX.
Regardless of the manner in which documents and
media are acquired--whether discovered in a cave
in Afghanistan, captured during a raid in Iraq,
or collected through human intelligence operations--the
Committee believes that such information should
be governed by standardized rules for DOCEX and
that the information contained in the documents
and media should be accessible to appropriately
cleared officers with a `need-to-know.'
To address the identified DOCEX concerns, the Committee
encourages the DNI to appoint a program manager
for National Intelligence Program DOCEX efforts.
The DNI should also develop a national DOCEX strategy.
The strategy should include clear `lanes in the
road' that delineate responsibilities for DOCEX
activities; preclude duplication of effort; institute
Community-wide DOCEX standards and procedures; establish
a single, common DOCEX database; and provide for
an aggregate annual budget for all National Intelligence
Program-funded DOCEX activities. To ensure the expeditious
completion of a national DOCEX strategy, the Committee
has fenced DOCEX-related funds as outlined in the
classified annex.
The Committee also believes that the DNI should
form a DOCEX technology investments board to guide
and develop a coordinated, Community-wide research
and development strategy. The DOCEX technology investments
board should include representatives from the offices
of the CIO of the Intelligence Community, the Director
of Science and Technology, the Deputy Director of
National Intelligence for Analysis, and representatives
from other DOCEX stakeholders. The Director of NMEC
should chair the board. The board should assist
the DNI in managing investments in DOCEX research
and development to alleviate redundant proposals
for future technologies. The board should also work
to ensure existing DOCEX capabilities are appropriately
shared and that redundant capabilities are eliminated.
With respect to non-National Intelligence Program
DOCEX activities, the DNI must engage the Secretary
of Defense to coordinate and deconflict
the activities of the Intelligence Community and
DoD, whether such activities are funded by the Military
Intelligence Program or otherwise. Such coordination
should include coordination of research and development
for technology related to DOCEX activities.
Finally, the Committee is impressed with the language
expertise resident at the Combined
Media Processing
Center in Doha,
Qatar, and believes that maintaining this capability
in the future could address some of the critical
shortages in language-proficient intelligence officers.
The Committee encourages the DNI to seek ways to
retain this vital resource once the current surge
in processing documents from Operation Iraqi Freedom
ceases.
All-source intelligence analysis by the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
The Committee continues to question the NGA's
production of all-source intelligence. The NGA will
be challenged in the foreseeable future to master
new geospatial phenomena, to provide geospatial
intelligence support to its growing customer base,
and to exploit the increasing volumes of geospatial
data being collected by airborne and commercial
platforms. These are sufficient challenges for the
NGA's analytic cadre without the diversion of effort to all-source
intelligence analysis.
Geospatial intelligence, like signals and human
intelligence, is a singular intelligence discipline
which, when combined with all other sources of information,
forms a basis for all-source intelligence products.
The Intelligence Community already consists of a
number of all-source intelligence elements: the
CIA; the DIA; the State Department's INR; national
intelligence centers such as the NCTC and NCPC;
intelligence elements of the Departments of Homeland
Security, Energy, and Treasury; the FBI's National
Security Branch; the armed services' science and
technology centers, such as NASIC, MSIC, and the
Office of Naval Intelligence; the Combatant Command
Joint Intelligence Centers; and hundreds of intelligence
staffs in joint task forces, combined task forces,
and tactical units. The NGA is the single entity
tasked to provide geospatial intelligence support
to all of these all-source entities. The NGA should
focus on providing geospatial-intelligence support
to these entities rather than duplicating their
all-source analytic missions.
Analysts at the NGA are by no measure simple photographic
interpreters. Their expertise in certain areas is
well known. They should, and do, access all-source
information to help focus their imagery exploitation
and to facilitate collaboration with their Intelligence
Community partners. They should not, however, let
that all-source information, or the tendency to
develop independent assessments, influence their
interpretation of imagery signatures, as apparently
occurred during interpretations of otherwise ambiguous
signatures at suspected Iraqi WMD facilities.
The intended consolidation of NGA facilities into
a single campus may have an unintended consequence
of encouraging a `go it
alone' mentality within the NGA. NGA must avoid
the temptation to develop assessments independent
of their all-source intelligence customers. By permitting
`mission creep' from geospatial-intelligence analysis
to all-source intelligence analysis, the NGA leadership
has failed to heed a cautionary note sounded in
Section 1111(d) of the NIMA Act of 1996, which states,
`In managing the establishment of [the NIMA], the
Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director
of Central Intelligence, shall ensure that imagery
intelligence support provided to all-source analysis
and production is in no way degraded or compromised.'
The Committee will remain watchful of this issue
and urges the DNI to provide appropriate guidance
to the NGA to ensure the most efficient use of the
NGA's skilled workforce,
while not duplicating all-source intelligence efforts
throughout the Intelligence Community or diluting
the geospatial-intelligence support provided by
the NGA to those same entities.
Intelligence Community financial management
The Committee is concerned about the overall lack
of sound financial management within the Intelligence
Community. Despite significant increases in funding
for national intelligence activities over the last
five years, the state of the Intelligence Community's
finances has not improved. Funding for major system
acquisitions and major policy initiatives is realigned
each year to compensate for programmatic content
in excess of programmed fiscal resources. The Committee
is concerned that the Intelligence Community has
failed to fund several major system acquisitions
to the level identified in the independent cost
estimate applicable to such acquisition. Indeed,
the Committee is concerned that many independent
cost estimates are prepared by the element responsible
for the proposed acquisition, and merely adopted
by the Intelligence Community Cost Analysis and
Improvement Group.
In addition to the lack of sound programmatic judgment,
the Committee is concerned that the CIA, NSA, NGA,
DIA, NRO, and the Office of the DNI are unable to
produce auditable financial statements, and are
therefore unable to verify to the Committee how
they are spending their appropriated funds. These
same institutions are developing unique, customized
financial management software systems, and the DNI
currently does not have a plan to integrate or consolidate
any of these systems. These problems are compounded
by the development of unique budget formulation
systems. Finally, because personnel are transferred
in and out of the financial discipline every two
or three years, the Intelligence Community is unable
to retain a cadre of experienced financial professionals.
To address these issues, the Committee directs
the DNI and the Director of OMB to develop a plan
to transform Intelligence Community financial management.
Specifically, the Committee directs the DNI and
Director of OMB to submit a strategic plan that
outlines how the existing systems of CIA, NSA, NGA,
DIA, NRO, and the Office of the DNI will be used,
upgraded or replaced, and subsequently integrated
in a single financial management system. The plan
should identify the associated system acquisitions,
deployment schedule, agency roles and responsibilities,
key steps and milestones, resource requirements
(both financial- and personnel-related), and performance
measures. The plan should address all steps necessary
to produce a single, consolidated financial statement
for the National Intelligence Program for fiscal
year 2009. The plan should address the development
of a common accounting code and standard business
processes for the Intelligence Community. The plan
should leverage costs already incurred to develop
budget formulation systems, such as IRIS, to ensure
that the financial management and budget formulation
systems can seamlessly integrate data. Finally,
the Committee directs the above mentioned plan to
include a comprehensive financial management human
resources policy that outlines how financial expertise
can be strengthened in each Intelligence Community
element. To ensure the expeditious completion of
this plan, the Committee has fenced certain funding
as outlined in the classified annex.
Department of Energy counterintelligence
On March 9, 2006, the Deputy Secretary of Energy
approved the consolidation of the Office of Intelligence
and Office of Counterintelligence under the leadership
of the Department's Senior Intelligence Officer.
The name of the new organization is the Office of
Intelligence and Counterintelligence. The Office
of the DNI concurred in the appointment of one individual
to serve as both the Director of the Office of Intelligence
and as the Director of the Office of Counterintelligence.
The Committee did not receive advance notice of
this reorganization, although it appears to have
been a significant anticipated intelligence activity
for which the Committee should have received prior
notice in accordance with Section 502 of the National
Security Act (50 U.S.C. 413a).
The Committee recognizes the authority of the Secretary
of the Energy, under current law (42 U.S.C. 7253),
to consolidate organizational units or components
within the Department as he may deem necessary or
appropriate. Such reorganization authority, however,
does not `extend to the abolition of organizational
units or components established by this chapter,
or to the transfer of functions vested by this chapter
in any organizational unit or component.' See 42
U.S.C. 7253(a). The Committee considers it an open
question whether this reorganization amounts to
a `transfer of functions' vested separately in the
Department's Office of Intelligence and Office of
Counterintelligence. Current law arguably requires
a separate Office of Intelligence and Office of
Counterintelligence, each with a director who reports
directly to the Secretary of Energy. See 42 U.S.C.
7144b & 7144c. Presumably, the Senior Intelligence
Officer will assume the responsibilities for establishing
Departmental policy for counterintelligence programs
and activities. If this amounts to a `transfer of
function' from the Office of Counterintelligence
or the Office of Intelligence to a new layer of
bureaucracy within the Office of Intelligence and
Counterintelligence, then the Deputy Secretary's
consolidation effort is arguably inconsistent with
current law. See 42 U.S.C. 7253.
Another troubling aspect of this reorganization
is its inconsistency with Presidential Decision
Directive 61 (PDD-61), which requires that: (1)
the Office of Counterintelligence and Office of
Intelligence be established as two separate independent
offices reporting directly to the Secretary of Energy;
(2) the Director of the Office of Counterintelligence
be a senior executive from the FBI; and (3) the
Director of the Office of Counterintelligence have
direct access to the Secretary of Energy, the DNI,
and the Director of the FBI. See White House Fact
Sheet, U.S. Department of energy Counterintelligence
Program Presidential Decision Directive 61. It is
the Committee's understanding that PDD-61 has not
been rescinded. Under the current reorganization,
the offices are no longer separate and independent.
Also, the current Senior Intelligence Officer, who
is now serving as both the Director for the Office
of Intelligence and the Office of Counterintelligence,
is not a senior executive from the FBI.
It is uncertain whether the `synergies' obtained
as a result of this consolidation will justify the
added layer of bureaucracy. The Committee believes
that the policies behind the current statutes and
PDD-61 still strike the right balance for the Department
of Energy (DoE). They
provide a mechanism to ensure that counterintelligence
concerns have an independent advocate within the
DoE and to provide the
Secretary of Energy with immediate access to the
perspective of a senior FBI counterintelligence
executive with respect to DoE
counterintelligence threats. The Committee is concerned
that the current reorganization effort may undermine
these important policy considerations and constitute
a return to past failed practices. The Committee
will continue to monitor this reorganization effort
and expects to be briefed in advance of further
developments.
Support to the Committee on Foreign Investment
in the United States
Recent high profile foreign acquisitions of United States firms have highlighted the important
role the Intelligence Community plays in supporting
the government review of these transactions. The
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
(CFIUS) relies on various elements of the Intelligence
Community to assess risks associated with any such
acquisition. The Committee understands that the
Office of the DNI has taken steps to better coordinate
the preparation of these risk assessments and other
support to CFIUS. The Committee strongly endorses
the DNI's effort.
The Intelligence Community risk assessments must
be conducted and finalized quickly in order to comply
with the short time frames provided under the CFIUS
review process. With the volume of CFIUS filings
increasing that pressure is even greater. The Committee
adopted an amendment offered by Senators Rockefeller
and Wyden to the Classified Annex to this Report
to provide additional resources to enable the Office
of the DNI to carry out this mission.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Motion to close
On May 23, 2006, on the motion of Chairman Roberts,
the Committee agreed, by voice vote, to close the
markup because matters under consideration at the
meeting would require the discussion of information
necessary to be kept secret in the interests of
national defense or the confidential conduct of
the foreign relations of the United
States.
Motion to report committee bill favorably subject
to amendments
On May 23, 2006, on the motion of Senator Bond,
by a vote of 15 ayes and 0 noes, the Committee voted to report the bill favorably, subject
to amendment. The votes in person or by proxy were
as follows: Chairman Roberts--aye; Senator Hatch--aye;
Senator DeWine--aye; Senator Bond--aye; Senator
Lott--aye; Senator Snowe--aye;
Senator Hagel--aye; Senator Chambliss--aye; Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye;
Senator Levin--aye; Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator
Wyden--aye; Senator Bayh--aye;
Senator Mikulski--aye; Senator Feingold--aye.
Amendments to committee bill
On May 23, 2006, by a vote of 9 ayes and 6 noes,
the Committee agreed to an amendment by Senator
Feinstein to modify certain requirements for notifications
to Congress under Sections 502 and 503 of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413a & 413b)
and to place an additional limitation on the availability
of funds for intelligence and intelligence-related
activities under Section 504 of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 414). See Sections 304 and
307 of the Act. The votes in person or by proxy
were as follows: Chairman Roberts--no; Senator Hatch--no;
Senator DeWine--no; Senator Bond--no; Senator Lott--no;
Senator Snowe--aye; Senator Hagel--aye;
Senator Chambliss--no; Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye;
Senator Levin--aye; Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator
Wyden--aye; Senator Bayh--aye;
Senator Mikulski--aye; Senator Feingold--aye.
On May 23, 2006, by unanimous consent, the Committee
agreed to an amendment by Senator Mikulski requiring
the Secretary of Defense to delegate certain security
clearance responsibilities to the Director of the
NGA until December 31, 2007. See Section 436 of
the Act.
On May 23, 2006, by a vote of 9 ayes and 6 noes,
the Committee agreed to an amendment by Senator
Levin to require a report by the DNI on compliance
by the Intelligence Community with the Detainee
Treatment Act of 2005 (Pub. L.
No. 109-148, Div. A, Title X (Dec. 30, 2005)).
See Section 313 of the Act. The votes in person
or by proxy were as follows: Chairman Roberts--no;
Senator Hatch--no; Senator DeWine--no; Senator Bond--no;
Senator Lott--no; Senator Snowe--aye;
Senator Hagel--aye; Senator
Chambliss--no; Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye; Senator
Levin--aye; Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator Wyden--aye;
Senator Bayh--aye; Senator
Mikulski--aye; Senator Feingold--aye.
On May 23, 2006, by a vote of 9 ayes and 6 noes,
the Committee agreed to an amendment by Senator
Wyden to increase the penalties applicable to certain
violations of Section 601 of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 421), relating to the unauthorized
disclosure of the identity of a covert agent. See
Section 308 of the Act. The votes in person or by
proxy were as follows: Chairman Roberts--no; Senator
Hatch--no; Senator DeWine--no; Senator Bond--no;
Senator Lott--no; Senator Snowe--aye;
Senator Hagel--aye; Senator
Chambliss--no; Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye; Senator
Levin--aye; Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator Wyden--aye;
Senator Bayh--aye; Senator
Mikulski--aye; Senator Feingold--aye.
On May 23, 2006, by a vote of 8 ayes and 7 noes,
the Committee agreed to an amendment by Senator
Levin (for himself and Senator Hagel) that would require certain officials to provide to
Congress requested intelligence documents and information
within 15 days, unless the President refuses to
provide the documents or information based on an
assertion of a privilege pursuant to the Constitution.
See Section 108 of the Act. The votes in person
or by proxy were as follows: Chairman Roberts--no;
Senator Hatch--no; Senator DeWine--no; Senator Bond--no;
Senator Lott--no; Senator Snowe--no;
Senator Hagel--aye; Senator
Chambliss--no; Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye; Senator
Levin--aye; Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator Wyden--aye;
Senator Bayh--aye; Senator
Mikulski--aye; Senator Feingold--aye.
On May 23, 2006, by a vote of 9 ayes and 6 noes,
the Committee agreed to an amendment by Senator
Levin to require the DNI to submit a classified,
detailed report to the Members of the intelligence
committees concerning each clandestine prison or
detention facility, if any, currently or formerly
operated by the United States Government, regardless
of location, at which detainees in the global war
on terrorism are or have been held. See Section
314 of the Act. The votes in person or by proxy
were as follows: Chairman Roberts--no; Senator Hatch--no;
Senator DeWine--no; Senator Bond--no; Senator Lott--no;
Senator Snowe--aye; Senator
Hagel--aye; Senator Chambliss--no; Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye;
Senator Levin--aye; Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator
Wyden--aye; Senator Bayh--aye;
Senator Mikulski--aye; Senator Feingold--aye.
On May 23, 2006, by a vote of 9 ayes and 6 noes,
the Committee agreed to an amendment by Senator
Wyden to mandate the public disclosure of the aggregate
amount of funding requested, authorized, and appropriated
for the National Intelligence Program for each fiscal
year after fiscal year 2007. See Section 107 of
the Act. The votes in person or by proxy were as
follows: Chairman Roberts--no; Senator Hatch--no;
Senator DeWine--no; Senator Bond--no; Senator Lott--no;
Senator Snowe--aye; Senator
Hagel--aye; Senator Chambliss--no;
Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye; Senator Levin--aye;
Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator Wyden--aye; Senator
Bayh--aye; Senator Mikulski--aye;
Senator Feingold--aye.
On May 23, 2006, by a vote of 7 ayes and 8 noes,
the Committee rejected an amendment by Senator Feingold
to require a report on past intelligence activities
not previously notified to all Members serving on
the intelligence committees at the time the activities
were undertaken. The votes in person or by proxy
were as follows: Chairman Roberts--no; Senator Hatch--no;
Senator DeWine--no; Senator Bond--no; Senator Lott--no;
Senator Snowe--aye; Senator Hagel--no; Senator
Chambliss--no; Vice Chairman Rockefeller--aye; Senator
Levin--aye; Senator Feinstein--aye; Senator Wyden--aye;
Senator Bayh--aye; Senator
Mikulski--no; Senator Feingold--aye.
ESTIMATE OF COSTS
Pursuant to paragraph 11(a)(3) of rule XXVI of
the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee
deems it impractical to include an estimate of the
costs incurred in carrying out the provisions of
this report due to the classified nature of the
operations conducted pursuant to the legislation.
On May 25, 2006, the Committee transmitted this
bill to the Congressional Budget Office and requested
that it conduct an estimate of the costs incurred
in carrying out the provisions of this bill.
EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI
of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee
finds that no substantial regulatory impact will
be incurred by implementing the provisions of this
legislation.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAWS
In the opinion of the Committee, it is necessary
to dispense with the requirements of paragraph 12
of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate
in order to expedite the business of the Senate.
ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATORS ROCKEFELLER, LEVIN,
FEINSTEIN, WYDEN, BAYH, MIKULSKI, AND FEINGOLD
Thirty years ago this month, the Senate passed
Senate Resolution 400, establishing the Select Committee
on Intelligence and charging the Committee with
providing `vigilant legislative oversight over the
intelligence activities of the United States to
assure that such activities are in conformity with
the Constitution and laws of the United States.'
The Committee is marking this anniversary by reporting
legislation that takes significant steps toward
reinvigorating our oversight responsibilities.
Current practice limits some Executive Branch briefings
about major intelligence programs to the so-called
`Gang of Eight,' which consists of the four House
and Senate leaders and the two chairmen and two
senior minority party members of each intelligence
committee. This limitation can hobble efforts by
the full Intelligence Committees to carry out effective
oversight. Sections 304 and 307 of the Committee's
bill would clarify that it is the obligation of
the Intelligence Community to fully and currently
inform all members of the congressional intelligence
committees about intelligence activities.
Effective oversight also depends on members of
Congress having timely access to intelligence information.
But too often, members of Congress, even those of
us who are members of committees of jurisdiction,
do not have timely access to the intelligence information
necessary to carry out our oversight responsibilities.
Section 108 of the Committee bill requires the Intelligence
Community to provide, upon request from Congressional
committees of jurisdiction or the Chairman or Vice
Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee or
Chairman or Ranking Member of the House Intelligence
Committee, timely access to existing intelligence
assessments, reports, estimates, legal opinions,
or other intelligence information.
The Committee's bill not only takes important steps
toward improving oversight generally, but advances
our oversight of particular matters. Section 313
of the Committee's bill requires a report from the
Director of National Intelligence relative to the
requirement of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005,
also known as the McCain Amendment,
that no person in the custody or under the
physical control of the United States shall be subject to cruel, inhuman,
or degrading treatment. While the report itself
will be classified, this provision requiring the
DNI report to the Congress on compliance with the
McCain Amendment is publicly stated in this bill.
Similarly, Section 314 of the Committee's bill requires
the DNI to submit a classified report on any clandestine
detention facilities operated by the United States
Government. These public law requirements reflect
the determination by the Committee to undertake
serious oversight of any Intelligence Community
detention, interrogation, and rendition practices.
In recent years, overly restrictive requests by
the Executive Branch to limit access to sensitive
material have hampered the Committee's ability to
conduct effective oversight. The Committee is calling
on the President, the Director of National Intelligence
and the Director of the National Security Agency
to work with the Committee to establish the mechanisms
necessary to review all the operational, legal and
budgetary aspects of the President's warrantless surveillance program. The Committee is also calling
for greater staff access to information about programs
related to fighting international terrorism, especially
in light of the role of intelligence in this long-term
national priority.
In addition, the Committee's bill strengthens oversight
by requiring that the Directors of the National
Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office each
be appointed by the President with the advice and
consent of the Senate. These agencies' budgets comprise
a significant portion of the entire intelligence
budget of the United
States and it is appropriate
that the President's choices to head these agencies
be subject to Senate confirmation.
The Committee bill also establishes, within the
Office of the DNI, an Inspector General of the Intelligence
Community. The Inspector General will have authorities,
including responsibilities to Congress,
that are commensurate with those of the CIA
Inspector General but are applicable across the
Intelligence Community. The creation of an Inspector
General of the Intelligence Community will strengthen
accountability throughout the Intelligence Community
by permitting independent examinations of serious
problems, abuses, or deficiencies not only within
elements of the Community, but in any lack of cooperation
among those elements.
Section 107 of the Committee's bill declassifies
the aggregate amount of money requested by the President
and authorized or appropriated by the Congress.
The public ought to know how much money the government
is spending on intelligence activities and the Senate
has long sought this sensible reform. We believe
declassifying the aggregate amount of money the
nation spends on intelligence would not harm the
nation's security.
Collectively, the provisions in the Committee bill
will strengthen efforts at Congressional oversight.
We look forward to the leadership's scheduling of
the Committee's bill for floor action as promptly
as possible after the Committee on Armed Services
considers the bill, given the imperative that the
Senate not allow another
year to pass without enactment of an intelligence
authorization bill. We cannot defeat today's threats
without the strongest and most cost-effective Intelligence
Community, and we believe these enhanced oversight
requirements support both goals.
John D. Rockefeller IV.
Carl Levin.
Dianne Feinstein.
Ron Wyden.
Evan Bayh.
Barbara A. Mikulski.
Russell D. Feingold.
ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATOR FEINGOLD
The Fiscal Year 2007 Intelligence Authorization
bill, along with the accompanying classified annex,
is a critically important piece of legislation.
It provides our Intelligence Community with the
resources to combat terrorist organizations, protect
America,
and serve American interests overseas. It also reflects
the importance of congressional oversight, a principle
that has been challenged by the current Administration's
failure to keep the congressional intelligence committees
fully and currently informed of all intelligence
activities.
Despite the belated briefing conducted for all
members of the Committee on May 17, 2006, the Administration
is still impeding the Committee from conducting
thorough, ongoing oversight of the NSA's
illegal warrantless surveillance
program. I was pleased, therefore, that the Committee
accepted my amendment to the classified annex calling
on the Administration to work with the Committee
to establish the mechanisms necessary to review
all the operational, legal and budgetary aspects
of the program.
I was also pleased that the Committee accepted
my amendment to the annex calling for greater staff
access to programs related to fighting terrorism.
Just as our nation must adopt a strategic, global
approach to this struggle, those responsible for
oversight need to assess whether our policies and
priorities are serving our overall national security
interests. When the Administration seeks to restrict
access to important intelligence programs, it undermines
the Committee's ability to take a comprehensive
approach to oversight.
The National Security Act requires that the congressional
intelligence committees be kept fully and currently
informed of all intelligence activities. The law
provides for briefings for less than the full membership
of the committees only in cases of covert action
and, even then, only if the President determines
that it is essential to limit access to meet extraordinary
circumstances affecting vital interests of the United
States. Given the Administration's failure to comply
with this law with regard to the warrantless surveillance program, I strongly support the Committee's
actions to further clarify these legal obligations,
and to ensure that the full committee is at least
offered an indication of which intelligence activities
are not briefed to the full membership. I also believe,
however, that the Committee must know the full extent
of how these limited briefings have been conducted
in the recent past. The Administration should inform
the members of the Committee with regard to programs
they have not been notified about so that members
can begin to assess whether the practice of briefing
the so-called `Gang of Eight' has, indeed, complied
with the law. In addition, an accounting of previously
unknown intelligence activities will allow members
of the Committee to consider the impact of these
activities on current national security policies,
as well as learn the lessons of past successes and
failures.
I was pleased that the Committee accepted an amendment
to the annex that I offered, along with Senator
Rockefeller, calling for more intelligence resources
to be directed toward Africa.
The continent presents a wide range of threats,
such as terrorist havens and the transnational movements
of terrorist organizations, while corruption, authoritarianism
and poverty allow these conditions to fester. Armed
conflict, genocide and humanitarian disasters are
all critical challenges to our national security,
and require greater information and understanding.
Of particular concern is Somalia,
where the Committee encouraged the Intelligence
Community to work with other agencies of the U.S.
government on a comprehensive strategic plan for
stability.
I am concerned about sections of the bill containing
temporary modifications to the Privacy Act. While
it is imperative that our intelligence agencies
effectively share information with each other, I
am concerned about the removal of Privacy Act limitations
on the ability of intelligence agencies to obtain
information from other government agencies that
are not part of the Intelligence Community. While
circumstances may arise in which intelligence agencies
need access to ordinary government information like
student loan data or government benefits information,
the exemption provided by the bill may be broader
than necessary. I am also concerned that, while
the bill appropriately involves the Privacy and
Civil Liberties Board, this important institution
is still not fully up and running.
I am also concerned about broad new arrest authorities
being granted to CIA and NSA protective personnel.
These personnel should be granted all the authority
they need to safeguard those they have been assigned
to protect. But the broad language in the bill effectively
authorizes the arrest of any person committing any
crime, even if he or she is in no way threatening
agency personnel or property, as well as persons
who have committed an unrelated felony in the past.
Without a compelling reason why current law is insufficient,
I am reluctant to extend broad new authorities.
Finally, I believe we must reform the financial
management practices of the Intelligence Community
to include more reporting and greater accountability
for cost overruns related to the acquisition of
major systems. We can keep America safe while also serving the U.S. taxpayer. I look forward
to working with my colleagues on important reform
legislation.
RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD.