[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3041 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3041
To establish the Foreign Intelligence and Information Commission to
assess needs and provide recommendations to improve foreign
intelligence and information collection, analysis, and reporting, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 20, 2008
Mr. Feingold (for himself and Mr. Hagel) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on
Intelligence
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Foreign Intelligence and Information Commission to
assess needs and provide recommendations to improve foreign
intelligence and information collection, analysis, and reporting, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Intelligence and Information
Commission Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 2005 national intelligence strategy.--The term ``2005
National Intelligence Strategy'' means the National
Intelligence Strategy of the United States of America released
by the Director of National Intelligence on October 26, 2005.
(2) 2006 annual report of the united states intelligence
community and 2006 annual report.--The terms ``2006 Annual
Report of the United States Intelligence Community'' and ``2006
Annual Report'' mean the 2006 Annual Report of the United
States Intelligence Community released by the Director of
National Intelligence in February 2007.
(3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Foreign
Intelligence and Information Commission established in section
4(a).
(4) Congressional intelligence committees.--The term
``congressional intelligence committees'' means--
(A) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the
Senate; and
(B) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
of the House of Representatives.
(5) Foreign intelligence, intelligence, intelligence
community.--The terms ``foreign intelligence'',
``intelligence'', and ``intelligence community'' have the
meaning given those terms in section 3 of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a).
(6) Information.--The term ``information'' includes
information of relevance to the foreign policy of the United
States collected and conveyed through diplomatic reporting and
other reporting by personnel of the Government of the United
States who are not employed by an element of the intelligence
community, including public and open-source information.
(7) Strategic plan of the department of state.--The term
``Strategic Plan of the Department of State'' means the
Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2007-2012 of the Department of
State and the United States Agency for International
Development revised on May 2, 2007.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Accurate, timely, and comprehensive foreign
intelligence and information are critical to the national
security of United States and the furtherance of the foreign
policy goals of the United States.
(2) It is in the national security and foreign policy
interest of the United States to ensure the global deployment
of personnel of the Government of the United States who are
responsible for collecting, reporting, and analyzing foreign
intelligence and information, including specifically personnel
from the intelligence community and the Department of State, as
well as other elements of the Government of the United States,
and that adequate resources are committed to effect such
collection, reporting, and analysis.
(3) The National Security Strategy of the United States of
America issued on March 16, 2006 summarized the National
Security Strategy of the United States of America issued on
September 17, 2002 and provided that ``defeating terrorism
requires a long-term strategy and a break with old patterns''.
(4) The National Security Strategy of the United States of
America issued on March 16, 2006 asserts that ``our diplomats
must be able to step outside their traditional role to become
more involved with the challenges within other societies,
helping them directly, channeling assistance, and learning from
their experience''.
(5) The 2005 National Intelligence Strategy and the 2006
Annual Report of the United States Intelligence Community
identified 5 major missions of the intelligence community to
support the national security requirements of the United
States, the first 2 of which, defeating terrorism and
preventing and countering the spread of weapons of mass
destruction, are global and transnational in nature.
(6) The third major mission identified by the 2005 National
Intelligence Strategy and the 2006 Annual Report, bolstering
the growth of democracy and sustaining peaceful democratic
states, requires a global commitment of intelligence resources.
(7) The 2005 National Intelligence Strategy and the 2006
Annual Report identify as a major mission the need to
``anticipate developments of strategic concern and identify
opportunities as well as vulnerabilities for decision makers''.
(8) The 2006 Annual Report provides the following:
(A) ``In a world in which developments in distant
reaches of the globe can quickly affect American
citizens and interests at home and abroad, the
Intelligence Community must alert policy makers to
problems before they escalate and provide insights into
their causes and effects. Analysis must do more than
just describe what is happening and why; it must
identify a range of opportunities for (and likely
consequences of) diplomatic, military, law enforcement,
economic, financial, or homeland security action. To
support policymakers, the Intelligence Community should
develop, sustain, and maintain access to expertise on
every region, every transnational security issue, and
every threat to the American people.''.
(B) ``[I]ntelligence collectors and analysts
provide a great deal of information to help
policymakers understand the spread of free institutions
and the perils they often face.''.
(C) ``We still need to re-balance, integrate, and
optimize collection capabilities to meet current and
future customer and analytic priorities. Collection is
. . . what gives the [Intelligence Community] its
`competitive advantage' in protecting the United States
and its interests.''.
(D) ``One challenge to improving the coverage of
emerging and strategic issues across the Intelligence
Community has been the diversion of resources to
current crisis support . . .''.
(E) ``Collection against terrorists in places like
Iraq and Afghanistan took a substantial share of the
[Intelligence Community's] resources and efforts in FY
2006.''.
(F) ``With so many [Intelligence Community]
resources dedicated to the War on Terror and WMD
programs in closed regimes, the [Intelligence]
Community's collection efforts still have to devote
significant attention to potential or emerging threats
of strategic consequence.''.
(9) On January 23, 2007, the Deputy Director of National
Intelligence for Collection testified to the Select Committee
on Intelligence of the Senate that there is a ``need to get the
Intelligence Community back to what I grew up calling global
reach'', stating that ``we don't have that today''. She further
testified that ``our challenge is . . . with [Congress's] help
[to get back] to a place where we can do global reach, and pay
attention to places that we are not''.
(10) On February 14, 2008, the Director of National
Intelligence testified to the Select Committee on Intelligence
of the Senate that ``certainly current crisis support takes a
disproportionate share'' of intelligence resources over
emerging and strategic issues.
(11) The Strategic Plan of the Department of State--
(A) provides that ``National security starts
overseas, and our mission is to create conditions
abroad that serve and protect American citizens and
interests.'';
(B) provides as a strategic goal that ``Our
diplomatic and development activities will reduce the
threat or impact of violent conflict by developing
early warning . . . capability.''; and
(C) establishes that the Department of State will
``emphasize regional solutions to regional problems and
sustainable, long-term strategies to address complex
challenges''.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the legislative branch
a Foreign Intelligence and Information Commission.
(b) Functions.--The Commission shall--
(1)(A) evaluate all global strategies of the Government of
the United States to collect foreign intelligence and
information, including public and open source information,
based on current and projected national security and foreign
policy priorities; and
(B) provide recommendations to improve the process for
formulating such collection strategies;
(2)(A) evaluate the extent to which the Government of the
United States coordinates foreign intelligence and information
collection and analysis strategies across agencies and
clandestine, diplomatic, military, and open source channels;
and
(B) provide recommendations to improve that coordination;
(3)(A) evaluate the extent to which the Government of the
United States directs human and budgetary resources toward
foreign intelligence and information collection and analysis
across all agencies and through the interagency process based
on collection and analysis requirements; and
(B) provide recommendations to ensure that adequate
resources are provided to meet such requirements;
(4)(A) evaluate the extent to which country missions
participate in the interagency strategies and budget
allocations for foreign intelligence and information
collection, analysis, and reporting; and
(B) provide recommendations for the relevant role of
country missions;
(5)(A) evaluate the extent to which major missions
identified in the 2005 National Intelligence Strategy and the
2006 Annual Report of the United States Intelligence Community,
specifically related to global and transnational issues, have
been supported with human and budgetary resources; and
(B) provide recommendations for directing resources to such
missions;
(6)(A) evaluate the extent to which the requirement, stated
in 2005 National Intelligence Strategy and the 2006 Annual
Report, to provide policy makers with intelligence and
information to anticipate crises before they occur and respond
accordingly has been supported with sustained human and
budgetary resources, particularly in countries and regions
traditionally underserved by the intelligence community; and
(B) provide recommendations for directing resources to such
requirement;
(7)(A) evaluate the extent to which requirements to collect
foreign intelligence and information to anticipate crises or
emerging threats have been met through existing collection and
analytical capabilities; and
(B) provide recommendations for improving the
prepositioning of foreign intelligence and information
collection and analytical capabilities to meet such
requirements;
(8)(A) evaluate--
(i) the extent to which foreign intelligence and
information collection, including diplomatic reporting
and public and open source information and analytical
resources, have been disproportionately directed toward
current crises, rather than toward predictive analysis;
and
(ii) the impact of the allocation of resources on
finished intelligence production and diplomatic
reporting; and
(B) provide recommendations for improving collection,
reporting, and analysis of intelligence and information in
accordance with the need for predictive analysis, finished
intelligence production, and diplomatic reporting on emerging
and strategic issues and on current crises;
(9)(A) evaluate all existing strategic plans for the
collection, reporting, and analysis of information obtained
through diplomatic reporting by the Department of State and
other agencies and departments of the United States that are
not elements of the intelligence community and the extent to
which human and budgetary resources have supported such plans;
and
(B) provide recommendations to improve processes for
establishing such strategies;
(10)(A) evaluate the extent to which out-of-capital embassy
posts of personnel of the Department of State and other
agencies and departments of the United States contribute to
information collection objectives; and
(B) provide recommendations for improving collection,
analysis, and reporting capabilities of such posts or if such
posts do not exist, provide an assessment of whether there is a
need for the creation of such posts;
(11)(A) evaluate the extent to which the requirement,
stated in the Strategic Plan of the Department of State, to
provide policy makers information to anticipate crises before
they occur and respond accordingly, has been supported with
sustained human and budgetary resources, particularly in
countries and regions traditionally underserved by the
Department of State staff and posts; and
(B) provide recommendations for directing resources to such
requirements;
(12)(A) evaluate the extent to which the elements of the
intelligence community, the Department of State, and other
agencies and departments of the United States have promoted and
developed language, cultural training, and other qualifications
for effective collection of foreign intelligence and
information in countries and regions to which the resources of
the intelligence community and the positioning of country
mission personnel have traditionally been limited; and
(B) provide recommendations for improving such language and
other qualifications;
(13)(A) evaluate the capabilities of the Government of the
United States to collect and report on foreign intelligence and
information, including public and open source information, and
conduct analysis with regard to ungoverned and undergoverned
countries and regions, terrorist safe havens, civil and
regional conflicts, arms trafficking, stability, corruption,
radicalization and marginalization of specific groups and human
rights and governance concerns; and
(B) provide recommendations to improve collection,
reporting, and analysis with regard to such countries and
regions and the issues described in subparagraph (A);
(14)(A) identify any regional and thematic gaps in foreign
intelligence and information collection, analysis, and
reporting; and
(B) provide recommendations to overcome such gaps,
including gaps related to the allocation of human and budgetary
resources and processes for collection, reporting, and analysis
of such intelligence and information;
(15)(A) identify impediments to directing human and
budgetary resources toward collection, analysis, and reporting
gaps, including the reasons for, and consequences of, such
impediments; and
(B) provide recommendations for overcoming such
impediments;
(16)(A) evaluate policies of the elements of the
intelligence community, the Department of State and other
agencies and departments of the United States to ensure
sustained deployment of qualified personnel in remote or
hardship areas of strategic significance; and
(B) provide recommendations for improving such policies;
and
(17)(A) evaluate processes and mechanisms for reporting of
information from country missions to policy makers and human
and budgetary resources directed toward such reporting; and
(B) provide recommendations to improve such reporting.
SEC. 5. MEMBERS AND STAFF OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) Members of the Commission.--
(1) Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of 14
members as follows:
(A) Three members appointed by the majority leader
of the Senate.
(B) Three members appointed by the minority leader
of the Senate.
(C) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
(D) Three members appointed by the minority leader
of the House of Representatives.
(E) One nonvoting member appointed by the Director
of National Intelligence.
(F) One nonvoting member appointed by the Secretary
of State.
(2) Selection.--
(A) In general.--Members of the Commission shall be
individuals who--
(i) are private citizens; and
(ii) have--
(I) knowledge and experience in
foreign information and intelligence
collection, analysis, and reporting,
including clandestine collection and
classified analysis, diplomatic
reporting and analysis, and collection
of public and open source information;
(II) knowledge and experience in
issues related to the national security
and foreign policy of the United States
gained by serving as a senior official
of the Department of State, a member of
the Foreign Service, or an employee or
officer of an appropriate agency or
department of the United States or an
independent organization with expertise
in the field of international affairs;
or
(III) knowledge and experience with
foreign policy decision making.
(B) Diversity of experience.--The individuals
appointed to the Commission should be selected with a
view to establishing diversity of experience with
regard to various geographic regions, functions, and
issues.
(3) Time of appointment.--The appointments under subsection
(a) shall be made not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(4) Term of appointment.--Members shall be appointed for
the life of the Commission.
(5) Vacancies.--Any vacancy of the Commission shall not
affect the powers of the Commission and shall be filled in the
manner in which the original appointment was made.
(6) Chair.--The members of the Commission shall designate 1
of the voting members to serve as the chair of the Commission.
(7) Quorum.--Eight members of the Commission shall
constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting the business of
the Commission.
(8) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the call of the
chair and shall meet regularly, not less than once every 3
months, during the life of the Commission.
(b) Staff.--
(1) In general.--The chair of the Commission may, without
regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and
terminate an executive director and, in consultation with the
executive director, appoint and terminate such other additional
personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to
perform its duties. In addition to the executive director and 1
full-time support staff for the executive director, there shall
be additional staff with relevant intelligence and foreign
policy experience to help support the Commission's work.
(2) Selection of the executive director.--The executive
director shall be selected with the approval of a majority of
the members of the Commission.
(3) Compensation.--
(A) Executive director.--The executive director
shall be compensated at the rate payable for level IV
of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title
5, United States Code.
(B) Staff.--The chair of the Commission may fix the
compensation of other staff of the Commission without
regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter
III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code,
relating to classification of positions and General
Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for
such personnel may not exceed the rate payable for
level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315
of such title.
(c) Experts and Consultants.--This Commission is authorized to
procure temporary or intermittent services of experts and consultants
as necessary to the extent authorized by section 3109 of title 5,
United States Code, at rates not to exceed the maximum annual rate of
basic pay payable under section 5376 of such title.
(d) Staff and Services of Other Agencies or Department of the
United States.--Upon the request of the Commission, the head of any
agency or department of the United States may detail, on a reimbursable
or nonreimbursable basis, any of the personnel of that department or
agency to the Commission to assist it in carrying out this Act. The
detail of any such personnel shall be without interruption or loss of
civil service or Foreign Service status or privilege.
(e) Security Clearance.--The appropriate agencies or departments of
the United States shall cooperate with the Commission in expeditiously
providing to the members and staff of the Commission appropriate
security clearances to the extent possible pursuant to existing
procedures and requirements.
SEC. 6. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) In General.--
(1) Hearings and evidence.--The Commission may, for the
purpose of carrying out this Act--
(A) hold hearings, sit and act at times and places
in the United States and in countries in which the
United States has a diplomatic presence, take
testimony, and receive evidence as the Commission
considers advisable to carry out this Act; and
(B) subject to subsection (b)(1), require, by
subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of
such witnesses and the production of such books,
records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and
documents, as the Commission considers necessary.
(b) Subpoenas.--
(1) Issuance.--
(A) In general.--A subpoena may be issued under
this section only--
(i) by the agreement of the chair of the
Commission; and
(ii) by the affirmative vote of 6 members
of the Commission.
(B) Signature.--Subject to subparagraph (A),
subpoenas issued under this section may be issued under
the signature of the chair or any member designated by
a majority of the Commission and may be served by any
person designated by the chair or by a member
designated by a majority of the Commission.
(2) Enforcement.--
(A) In general.--In the case of contumacy or
failure to obey a subpoena issued under this section,
the United States district court for the judicial
district in which the subpoenaed person resides, is
served, or may be found, or where the subpoena is
returnable, may issue an order requiring such person to
appear at any designated place to testify or to produce
documentary or other evidence. Any failure to obey the
order of the court may be punished by the court as a
contempt of that court.
(B) Additional enforcement.--In the case of any
failure of any witness to comply with any subpoena or
to testify when summoned under authority of this
section, the Commission may, by majority vote, certify
a statement of fact constituting such failure to the
appropriate United States attorney, who may bring the
matter before the grand jury for its action, under the
same statutory authority and procedures as if the
United States attorney had received a certification
under sections 102 through 104 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192 through 194).
(c) Information From Federal Agencies.--The Commission may secure
directly from any agency or department of the United States such
information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out this
Act. Upon request of the chair of the Commission, the head of such
agency or department shall furnish such information to the Commission,
subject to applicable law.
(d) Postal Services.--The Commission may use the United States
mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other
departments and agencies of the United States.
(e) Administrative Support.--The Administrator of General Services
shall provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis (or, in the
discretion of the Administrator, on a nonreimbursable basis) such
administrative support services as the Commission may request to carry
out this Act.
(f) Administrative Procedures.--The Commission may adopt such rules
and regulations, relating to administrative procedure, as may be
reasonably necessary to enable it to carry out this Act.
(g) Travel.--
(1) In general.--The members and staff of the Commission
may, with the approval of the Commission, conduct such travel
as is necessary to carry out this Act.
(2) Expenses.--Members of the Commission shall serve
without pay but shall be allowed travel expenses, including per
diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees
of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United
States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of
business in the performance of services for the Commission.
(h) Gifts.--No member of the Commission may receive a gift or
benefit by reason of such member's service on the Commission.
SEC. 7. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) In General.--
(1) Interim report.--Not later than 18 months after the
members of the Commission are appointed under section 5(a), the
Commission shall submit an interim report to the congressional
intelligence committees setting forth the preliminary findings
and recommendations of the Commission described in section
4(b).
(2) Final report.--Not later than 6 months after the
submission of the report required by paragraph (1), the
Commission shall submit a final report setting forth the final
findings and recommendations of the Commission described in
section 4(b) to the following:
(A) The President.
(B) The Director of National Intelligence.
(C) The Secretary of State.
(D) The congressional intelligence committees.
(b) Individual or Dissenting Views.--Each member of the Commission
may include that member's dissenting views in a report required by
paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a).
(c) Form of Report.--The reports required by paragraphs (1) and (2)
of subsection (a), including any finding or recommendation of such
report, shall be submitted in both an unclassified and a classified
form.
SEC. 8. TERMINATION.
The Commission shall terminate 60 days after the submission of the
report required by section 7(a)(2).
SEC. 9. NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply
to the Commission.
SEC. 10. FUNDING.
(a) Transfer From the National Intelligence Program.--Of the
amounts available for the National Intelligence Program for fiscal year
2008, $5,000,000 shall be available for transfer to the Commission to
carry out this Act.
(b) Availability.--The amounts made available to the Commission
pursuant to subsection (a) shall remain available until the termination
of the Commission.
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