Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
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Inadequacies in House Intelligence Reform Bill:
8 October 2004
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee voted against the intelligence reform bill (H.R. 10) before the House of Representatives today. Inslee instead voted in favor of a much more comprehensive proposal (the Menendez Amendment) that implements many of the 9-11 Commission’s recommendations. The intelligence reform bill (H.R. 10) passed by a vote of 282 to 134.
"This House bill added a fake bureaucracy to a real terrorist problem. It falls far short of the 9-11 Commission’s recommendations, and does a disservice to the victims’ families, whose advice this bill ignores. It does not address several of the major flaws in our intelligence that the 9-11 Commission recommended changing," said Inslee.
"How can the National Intelligence Director have real power to prevent terrorist attacks if the Director does not control his or her own budget and personnel decisions? While the NID should consult with affected agency heads, these officials must not have veto power over the NID's decisions. In the absence of giving real power to the Director, we are just adding a bureaucracy without a purpose.
This bill also fails to address our flaws in the Congressional oversight of the intelligence committee, or address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We have had multiple failures in the intelligence community over the last three years, and the status quo is unacceptable. Instead of following the 9-11 Commission’s recommendations in a bipartisan manner, the House Republican bill contains controversial, divisive provisions to weaken the privacy and civil liberties protections that our citizens enjoy. Real intelligence reform must take a comprehensive leap forward."
Of the 41 recommendations made by the 9-11 Commission, H.R. 10 fully implements only eleven recommendations; fifteen recommendations are not addressed at all, and another fifteen are only partially implemented. Inslee highlighted the following inadequacies in H.R. 10:
National Intelligence Director (NID):
Under H.R. 10, the NID does not have full budgetary authority and would not be involved in hiring decisions. Instead, the NID will have the limited ability to "provide guidance" to other agencies when determining budget levels.
Congressional Oversight:
The 9-11 Commission recommended that "Of all our recommendations, strengthening congressional oversight may be among the most difficult and important. So long as oversight is governed by current congressional rules and resolutions, we believe the American people will not get the security they want and need." Yet the House bill contains no requirements that Congress reorganize its intelligence oversight.
WMD Proliferation:
H.R. 10 is inadequate in addressing the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The 9-11 Commission report states, "Preventing the proliferation of these weapons warrants a maximum effort … expanding the Proliferation Security Initiative, and supporting the Cooperative Threat Reduction program." But while the Senate-passed intelligence reform bill includes specific provisions to expand and bolster nonproliferation programs, H.R. only requires a report on the problems in counterproliferation efforts.
Civil Liberties:
H.R. 10 does not follow the 9-11 Commission recommendation to create a civil liberties board to ensure the protection of Americans civil liberties when the government considers laws and regulations to protect the nation against terrorism. In contrast, H.R. 10 actually raises privacy concerns by creating a new national database of driver’s licenses and birth certificates, and expands the authority of the Justice Department by relaxing grand jury secrecy requirements and increasing its ability to conduct secret surveillance.
Other recommendations ignored by H.R. 10:
Among other recommendations made by the 9-11 Commission, H.R. 10 fails to mandate and fund the use of explosive detection devices for airline safety; fails to provide additional security assistance to Afghanistan; does not include provisions to fund public diplomacy initiatives and educational and cultural exchange programs abroad (and in the Muslim world in particular); does not address the intelligence community’s traditional failure to share information among agencies; finally, the House bill fails to require the Department of Homeland security to report to Congress on its progress in planning or preparing to respond to any attack or threat against our country.