Intelligence Authorization
On July 16, 2008, the House passed the 2009 Intelligence Authorization, H.R. 5959, which will strengthen and improve America's intelligence capabilities. The bill makes key investments to strengthen intelligence, including adding critical funding to enhance human intelligence collection (including enhancing language capabilities), strengthening research and development in advanced technologies, and improving signals intelligence. The bill also has a series of strong provisions to promote accountability and oversight, including prohibiting the use of CIA contractors to interrogate detainees, requiring a report on compliance with the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and related provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and creating a statutory, Senate-confirmed Inspector General for the entire Intelligence Community.
Key provisions of the bill:
This bill is designed to strengthen and improve America’s intelligence capabilities. The bill authorizes a classified amount for 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency, and for other intelligence-related activities of the federal government.
The bill strengthens human intelligence collection. The bill adds funding to the President’s request to enhance human intelligence (HUMINT) collection, including resources for HUMINT collection against terrorists. It also provides much-needed funds for other enduring and emerging global security issues, such as challenges faced in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The bill contains provisions to improve language capabilities. In line with strengthening human intelligence collection, the bill includes a focus on improving language capabilities in the Intelligence Community, adding both funds and reporting requirements to improve oversight of this perennial problem area. The bill also mandates implementation of security clearance reform, to allow first- and second-generation Americans – who may have critical language and cultural skills – to serve in the Intelligence Community.
The bill strengthens research and development. Despite the size of the President’s budget request, it did not include adequate funds for research and development to keep the U.S. Intelligence Community competitive in advanced technologies. Research and development funding is the nation’s investment in state-of-the-art technologies. The bill adds funds to four Intelligence Community agencies for that purpose, and urges the Administration to sustain and increase this level of funding in future budget requests. The bill also again creates an independent commission to review the status of research and development in the Intelligence Community.
The bill strengthens signals intelligence. The bill addresses a number of long-term technical challenges in the Intelligence Community. It does so by adding significant resources in both the National Intelligence Program and the Military Intelligence Program to modernize signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities and link them into a global SIGINT enterprise.
The bill authorizes critical funds for cybersecurity. The President’s budget request for FY 2009 included a sizable amount of funding for the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. The bill authorizes much of the request for foundational cybersecurity activities, while expressing the Committee’s concern about potential policy, implementation, and governance issues. To that end, the bill requests a presidential report on creating a senior advisory panel composed of representatives from the executive branch, the legislative branch and the private sector to address areas of concern.
The bill requires new reports on countries’ WMD programs. The bill requires a new National Intelligence Estimate on Syria’s WMD programs, and requires semi-annual reports on the WMD programs of Iran, Syria and North Korea.
The bill includes new reporting requirements to the Intelligence Committee on covert action programs. The bill includes provisions designed to enhance reporting to the full Intelligence Committee on intelligence activities. First, the bill withholds 75% of all covert action funds until the full membership of the intelligence committee is briefed on all active covert action programs. Another provision gives the Committee control over Presidential attempts to limit information to only the Chairman and Ranking Member, and clarifies what must be reported to the full Committee.
The bill includes a provision on the national security impact of climate change. The bill authorizes funds to support efforts to understand the impact of climate change on national and energy security – an issue that has been identified by military and intelligence experts as vital to global security.
The bill includes a series of other strong provisions to promote accountability and oversight.
Some of these provisions include the following:
- Prohibiting the CIA’s use of contractors for the purpose of interrogating detainees;
- Requiring a report on compliance with the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and related provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 regarding detentions and interrogations;
- Requiring an annual report on intelligence resources dedicated to Iraq and Afghanistan; and
- Creating a statutory, Senate-confirmed Intelligence Community (IC) Inspector General with the authority to inspect, audit and investigate activities across the Intelligence Community