[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 124 (Thursday, September 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1895]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      INTRODUCTION OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY AUDIT ACT OF 2006

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                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2006

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the 
Intelligence Community Audit Act of 2006.
  Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has joined me in introducing this 
important measure. I am also pleased to report that a companion bill 
will be introduced in the Senate by Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Frank 
Lautenberg (D-NJ).
  This bill, the Intelligence Community Audit Act of 2006, reaffirms 
the authority of the Comptroller General of the United States and head 
of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct for Congress 
audits and evaluations of the intelligence community--including audits 
and evaluations pertaining to financial transactions, programs, and 
information sharing and other activities. It also prescribes the 
security procedures that GAO must follow in conducting audits for 
congressional intelligence oversight committees of intelligence sources 
and methods, or covert actions.
  There is a pressing need for this legislation. With the passage of 
the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the 
federal government now encompasses 19 distinct components that have 
intelligence responsibilities. Ensuring that these components--which 
range from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to the 
Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Treasury--are 
cooperating and performing their missions effectively is critical to 
our national security and winning the war on terrorism.
  But it is not just federal coordination and cooperation which is at 
issue. There is also a pressing need for state and local law 
enforcement officials to get the information they need to protect our 
constituents. Unfortunately, this has not happened. In a recent survey, 
the National Governor's Association noted that fully 70 percent of 
state homeland security directors are dissatisfied with the specificity 
of homeland security information they receive from federal sources, and 
the fully 55 percent who are disappointed with its actionable quality. 
Our state law enforcement officials need information to protect our 
constituents.
  And we in Congress need information to conduct our oversight 
functions. The availability of information to appropriate congressional 
committees is a paramount concern for this nation's system of checks 
and balances. The ability of the GAO to conduct thorough and 
nonpartisan reviews is well known. But what is not well known is the 
hurdles they sometimes face in conducting oversight. Earlier this year, 
shortly after GAO released a report on federal government policies 
relating to the sharing of terrorism-related and sensitive but 
unclassified (SBU) information (GAO-06-385). Specifically, the DNI 
declined to comment on a draft version of the report because it 
considered GAO's work in this non-sensitive area a ``review of 
intelligence activities'' that was ``beyond GAO's purview.'' But this 
bill makes it clear that the DNI cannot evade Congressional oversight 
by lumping the sharing of unclassified information and other non-
sensitive matters together with the kinds of intelligence activities 
that understandably must be held to a stricter standard.
  This bill makes it clear that Congress has a real and continuing 
interest in reviews of the basic functions of the intelligence 
community, such as sharing of information with state and local law 
enforcement officials and transportation security. The events of 911 
made it clear that systemic weaknesses in these areas can cost lives.
  I urge my colleagues to co-sponsor this bill.

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