[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 145 (Tuesday, November 12, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10831-S10832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HOMELAND SECURITY

  Mr. SPECTER. The issue of homeland security, I believe, is one of 
great urgency. I believe that September 11, 2001, could have been 
prevented had we had all of the so-called dots on the board about 
warnings which had been received. I do not agree with CIA Director 
George Tenet that another September 11 is imminent. CIA Director Tenet 
made that statement about a month ago.
  We had a lot of warning signals about 9/11. There was an FBI report 
in July of 2001 about a suspicious man taking flight training in 
Phoenix, that he had a big picture of Osama bin Laden in his apartment, 
which never got to headquarters. That warning was mired in FBI 
bureaucracy.
  There was information that two al-Qaida members from Kuala Lumpur 
were planning to come to the United States; that it was known to the 
CIA but never told to the FBI or the INS, the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service. They came in unimpeded and were two of the 
pilots on the suicide missions on September 11.
  Then there was the effort by the Minneapolis office of the FBI to 
secure a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for 
Zacarias Moussaoui which had the wrong standard. Had the FBI gotten 
into Moussaoui's computer, there was a treasure trove of information 
about potential attack.
  Then there was the warning to the National Security Agency on 
September 10 about something to happen the next day. It was not 
translated until September 12, but it was too late. Then an al-Qaida 
man named Murak confessed in 1996 of plans by al-Qaida to fly a plane 
loaded with explosives into the CIA headquarters. We already had the 
attack on the Trade Center in 1993. Osama bin Laden was under 
indictment for killing Americans in Mogadishu in 1993, and under 
indictment for the Embassy bombings in Africa in 1998. Osama bin Laden 
was on record as declaring a worldwide jihad against the United States.
  We had a lot of warnings, and had all of those dots been put on the 
board, I think there was a veritable blueprint and I said as much when 
FBI Director Mueller came to testify before the Judiciary Committee 
last June.
  We had the homeland security bill on the floor for a full month. We 
started debating it on September 3. We did not finish until October 1, 
and it was never ever passed. When President Bush came to Pennsylvania 
back in late October, I urged the President to call a special session 
of Congress to pass homeland security. It seems to me that is our job.
  The President is emphatic that the first thing he does every day is 
to review the intelligence briefings. There is grave concern that there 
could be another attack. I am glad that the President is insistent that 
Congress pass homeland security before we go

[[Page S10832]]

out of this lame duck session. While it is important to pass homeland 
security, it is important that it be enacted with the appropriate 
provisions. One provision that I have discussed at some length is to 
have the Secretary be able to direct the intelligence agencies which 
will all be under one umbrella. The idea to have the intelligence 
agencies under one umbrella, I think, has been generally agreed 
upon. This is not a new idea; it has been proposed for a long time.

  I was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1995 and 1996. 
I saw the turf wars between the CIA and the FBI, the NSA and Defense 
Intelligence, et cetera. Legislation was introduced by this Senator to 
bring everything under one umbrella of the Central Intelligence Agency, 
and that legislation has languished. Mine was not the only idea; it has 
been proposed by others over the years. The turf battles have precluded 
it. Now, with an Office of Homeland Security, we have a chance to get 
it under one umbrella.
  It is vital the Secretary be able to direct these analytical 
departments to work together. Otherwise, the turf battles will go on. I 
am not saying the CIA Director should lose control over his agents 
around the world or the FBI Director should lose control over FBI 
agents in the United States or abroad, or any other Department should 
lose control over their agents. But when you pull the analysis and 
bring all the analysts under one umbrella, there is the point that 
there has to be direction so all the dots are placed on one screen.
  The language is very simple. It is:

       On behalf of the Secretary, subject to disapproval by the 
     President, to direct the agencies described under subsection 
     (f)(2) to provide intelligence information, analysis of 
     intelligence information, and such other intelligence-
     regulated information, as the Assistant Secretary for 
     Information Analysis determines necessary.

  That is the operative language. The other parts of the bill contain 
an enumeration of all of the agencies which will be under one umbrella 
for analysis.
  There has been considerable argument and disagreement over labor-
management provisions. This has been discussed at some length by this 
Senator and others in colloquies. Part of the controversy arose because 
of initial confusion as to whether the two paragraphs added by the 
amendment by Senator Nelson of Nebraska--that is the other Senator 
Nelson, Mr. President; may the Record show that Senator Bill Nelson is 
presiding at the moment--whether they were in addition to or in place 
of. And if they were in place of, that would have eliminated the 
President's national security waiver which is indispensable and should 
not be eliminated.
  In colloquy with Senator Lieberman, it was agreed to that these 
provisions would be in addition to. So that asked that collective 
bargaining in current law would stand, which provides in subsection A:

       (A) the agency or subdivision has a primary function 
     intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative or national 
     security work, and
       (B) the provisions of this chapter cannot be applied to 
     that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with 
     national security requirements and considerations.

  Then the Nelson amendment would have added the language:
       (1) the mission and responsibilities of the agency or 
     subdivision materially change; and
       (2) a majority of such employees within such agency or 
     subdivision have--as their primary duty--intelligence, 
     counterintelligence, or investigative work directly related 
     to terrorism investigation.

  I believe that language would be satisfactory to all parties.
  Then with respect to the flexibility which the President has sought 
as to the other five chapters, that format would be followed so that, 
in essence, where we have intelligence, counterintelligence, or 
investigative work, there would be the flexibility for a national 
security waiver as determined by the President.
  Now I have just come from a meeting with Republican leadership with 
the President, and there has been work over the past weekend on this 
issue. As yet, we do not know precisely what provisions have been 
agreed to. It is my hope that the language which I had suggested in 
September and which has been before all of the Senators who were 
working on the final analysis, plus this language, will be incorporated 
in the final bill. I will be in touch with the officials in the 
administration yet this afternoon to try to see to it that these 
provisions which are agreeable to all sides--both labor and management, 
to solve the labor-management controversy--can be made part of the 
bill, and that the language which would give the Secretary the 
authority to direct the analysis sections will also be included in the 
bill.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the language giving the 
Secretary of Homeland Defense authority to direct the analytical 
agencies be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks along 
with the language both as to collective bargaining and the flexibility 
in the other five divisions of labor-management.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       On page 24, strike line 4 and insert the following:
       (19) On behalf of the Secretary, subject to disapproval by 
     the President, to direct the agencies described under 
     subsection (f)(2) to provide intelligence information, 
     analyses of intelligence information, and such other 
     intelligence-related information as the Assistant Secretary 
     for Information Analysis determines necessary.
       (20) To perform such other duties relating to
       (A) the agency or subdivision has as a primary function 
     intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national 
     security work, and
       (B) the provision of this chapter [5 USCS Sec. Sec. 7101 
     et. seq.] cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in 
     a matter of consistent with national security requirements 
     and considerations.
       In addition to the requirements of sub-sections (A) and (B) 
     the President may issue an order excluding any agency or 
     subdivision thereof from coverage under this chapter [5 USCS 
     Sec. Sec. 7101 et seq.] if the President determines that--
       (1) the mission and responsibilities of the agency or 
     subdivision materially change; and
       (2) a majority of such employees within such agency or 
     subdivision have--as their primary duty--intelligence, 
     counterintelligence, or investigative work directly related 
     to terrorism investigation.
       Notwithstanding any other provision, the authority of the 
     President under Section 9701 on establishment of a human 
     resources management system shall require that the President 
     determines that:
       (A) the agency or subdivision has as a primary function 
     intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national 
     security work, and
       (B) the provisions of chapter 43, 51, 53, 71, 75 or 77 
     cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a matter 
     consistent with national security requirements and 
     considerations.
       In addition to the requirements of sub-sections (A) and (B) 
     the President may issue an order providing for waiver of the 
     provisions of chapters 43, 51, 53, 71, 75 or 77 if the 
     President determines that--
       (1) the mission and responsibilities of the agency or 
     subdivision materially change; and
       (2) a majority of such employees within such agency or 
     subdivisions have--as their primary duty--intelligence, 
     counterintelligence, or investigative work directly related 
     to terrorism investigation.

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