Reyes Floor Statement on the Intelligence Authorization Act
7/16/2008
Washington, D.C.
News
CHAIRMAN REYES'S STATEMENT ON THE INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT MADE ON THE FLOOR OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Washington, D.C. - House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman, Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), today spoke on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of H.R. 5959, the Fiscal Year 2009 Intelligence Authorization Act. The following are remarks as prepared for delivery:
"Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Intelligence is critical to every decision affecting America's national security. Whether the challenge is learning the intentions of our nation's adversaries or detecting the location of the next roadside IED in Iraq, America needs a well-resourced and well-managed Intelligence Community.
"This Committee's primary responsibilities are to authorize funds for the intelligence agencies, to conduct vigorous oversight over their operations, and to ensure that those operations are effective, legal and an appropriate use of taxpayer money.
"I thank my colleague, Mr. Hoekstra, for working with me in a bipartisan fashion to bring this bill to the floor.
"This year, as in years past, I have gone to the front lines to see our courageous intelligence professionals perform their jobs. They do this quietly, often without recognition or praise. Many spend time away from their families, often in dangerous conditions. This bill is the tangible sign of our support for the women and men of America's intelligence agencies.
"We are providing robust funding for our most important priorities - HUMINT, language capabilities, and technical capabilities.
"Our principal concern continues to be that al-Qaeda is stronger today than at any time since September 11, 2001. Osama bin Laden and his key deputies remain at large. But al-Qaeda is not the only terrorist group that has gained strength. Over the past seven years Hezbollah and Hamas have become more capable and more determined. Dangerous states, including Syria, are pursuing nuclear capabilities. There is the possibility that one of these states, or even rogue scientists, could transfer fissile material to a terrorist group. This must remain our foremost concern.
"This bill invests in people, our most important resource. It adds funding to enhance human intelligence collection not only for counter-terrorism but also for enduring and emerging global security issues, such as challenges faced in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
"This bill also contains a number of provisions that promote greater accountability, including the creation of a new Inspector General for the Intelligence Community.
"The bill will improve language capabilities in the Intelligence Community by adding funding for speakers of critical languages and requiring reports to Congress to evaluate progress in this perennial problem area.
"The bill mandates implementation of security clearance reform to make it easier for first and second generation Americans, many of whom have critical language skills, to serve in the Intelligence Community with proper clearances.
"I mentioned earlier that one of the responsibilities of this committee is oversight, yet this Administration has repeatedly failed to comply with the National Security Act of 1947, which mandates that the Committee be fully and currently informed of all intelligence activities. This bill enhances congressional oversight by ensuring that the Committee receives the information it needs to perform its inherent oversight function.
"Working on a bipartisan basis, our Committee adopted two provisions to enhance reporting on intelligence activities to the full membership of the congressional intelligence committees. One provision would restrict 75 percent of all covert action funds until the full membership of the intelligence committees is briefed on all covert actions in effect as of April 24, 2008. Another provision would restrict the Administration's attempts to brief only the Chairman and Ranking Member, and clarifies which information must be reported to the full Committee.
"This legislation authorizes much of the request for the foundational activities of the Cybersecurity Initiative, but it expresses the Committee's serious concerns about potential policy, implementation, and governance issues.
"The Committee is also concerned that Congress does not have a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude of human and fiscal intelligence resources that have been devoted to Iraq, possibly at the expense of fighting the war on terror. H.R. 5959 requires a detailed report to the Committee on this topic.
"The bill also addresses a number of long-term technical challenges in the Intelligence Community. It does so by adding significant resources to modernize signals intelligence capabilities and integrate them into a global enterprise.
"Finally, despite the size of the budget request, the Administration did not include funds adequate to keep the U.S. Intelligence Community competitive in advanced technologies. Research and development funding is the nation's investment in maintaining our edge in state of the art technologies. The bill adds funds to four agencies specifically for that purpose; and the Committee urges the Executive Branch to sustain, if not increase, this level of funding in future budget requests.
"In our markup, the Committee adopted a number of amendments offered by both majority and minority members. One of those important amendments, crafted with bipartisan cooperation, will prevent CIA contractors from engaging in interrogations unless the Director of National Intelligence provides a waiver.
"My goal is to put this Committee back in the authorization business by getting a bill to the President's desk that he can sign. To do that, we can't tackle every important issue in this bill. But if we fail to pass this bill, we risk eroding Congress's ability to strengthen and oversee intelligence operations that are vital to American national security.
"I reserve the balance of my time."
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Vincent M. Perez
202-225-4831
vincent.perez@mail.house.gov
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