[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 131 (Monday, September 27, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7558-S7559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 2701, the Intelligence 
Authorization Act, received from the House and at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2701) to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
     year 2010 for intelligence and intelligence-related 
     activities of the United States Government, the Community 
     Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency 
     Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise today to join the distinguished Chair 
of the Select Committee on Intelligence in supporting the passage of 
H.R. 2701, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, 
with a Senate substitute amendment. This substitute amendment is very 
similar to S. 3611, which the Senate passed by unanimous consent nearly 
2 months ago in an effort to encourage House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to 
allow consideration of an intelligence authorization bill.
  It is often said that the third time is the charm. I certainly hope 
so. Last summer, we passed our intelligence authorization bill through 
the Senate in time for the Intelligence Committee to impact fiscal year 
spending. Unfortunately, our bill got held up in the House for 
political reasons. So, in August of this year, we tried again. Still, 
our bill was held up. Now, here we are, on the eve of a new fiscal 
year, and it looks like we finally have a compromise that will allow 
Congress to pass an intelligence authorization bill once again.
  Why does passing an authorization bill matter at this late date in 
the fiscal year? This bill does more than just authorize funding for 
intelligence activities--a vital purpose in and of itself. By providing 
current congressional guidance and statutory authorities, we can ensure 
that the intelligence community has the maximum flexibility and 
capability it needs to function effectively, spend taxpayer funds 
wisely, and keep our Nation safe.
  The intelligence authorization bill before us is a good bill. It will 
give the intelligence community much-needed flexibility and authority 
and will ensure appropriate intelligence oversight by this committee.
  Two months ago, the Senate confirmed a new Director of National 
Intelligence. I have often said that in creating the DNI, we gave him 
an awful lot of responsibility without all the authority he needed. 
Well, our bill attempts to address that problem by giving the DNI 
clearer authority and greater flexibility in overseeing the 
intelligence community. As Director Clapper takes on his new 
assignment, I expect these provisions will play a big part in helping 
him lead the intelligence community--and ensuring the rest of the 
intelligence community recognizes his role, too.
  There are also a number of provisions in this bill that I believe are 
essential for promoting good government and smarter spending. Too 
often, we have seen programs or acquisitions of major systems balloon 
in cost and decrease in performance. That is unacceptable. We are in 
difficult economic times and the taxpayers are spending substantial 
sums of their hard-earned money to ensure that the intelligence 
community has the tools it needs to keep us safe. If we do not demand 
accountability for how these tools are operated or created, we are 
failing the intelligence community and, ultimately, we are failing the 
American people.
  So, for the past several years, I have sponsored amendments that 
require the intelligence community to perform vulnerability assessments 
of major systems and to keep track of excessive cost growth of major 
systems. This latter provision is modeled on the Nunn-McCurdy provision 
which has guided Defense Department acquisitions for years. I am happy 
to say that these provisions are part of this bill. I believe that 
these, and other good-government provisions, will encourage earlier 
identification and solving of problems relating to the acquisition of 
major systems. Too often, such problems are not identified until 
exorbitant sums of money have been spent--and, unfortunately, at that 
point, bureaucratic inertia takes over and there is often reluctance to 
cancel the project.
  Similarly, the intelligence community must get a handle on its 
personnel levels. In these tough economic times, it is more important 
than ever to make sure that the intelligence community is appropriately 
resourced so it can effectively perform its national security missions.
  This is not, however, an open invitation for more contractors. Far 
too many times, contractors are used by the intelligence community to 
perform functions better left to government employees. There are some 
jobs that demand the use of contractors--for example, certain technical 
jobs or short-term functions--but the easy, quick fix has been to just 
hire contractors, not long-term support. And so, our bill includes a 
provision calling for annual personnel level assessments for the 
intelligence community. These assessments will ensure that, before more 
people are brought in, there are adequate resources to support them and 
enough work to keep them busy.
  These are just a few of the provisions in this bill that I believe 
are important for the success of our intelligence collection efforts 
and equally important for ensuring sound oversight by the Intelligence 
Committee.
  Now, the substitute amendment does not change any of these 
provisions. It does make some minor technical changes, and because the 
fiscal year will be over before the bill becomes law, some of the 
authorizing provisions have been removed.
  The most significant changes in the substitute reflect the compromise 
reached by Speaker Pelosi with the Senate and the administration on the 
issues of congressional notification and the relationship between the 
intelligence community and the Government Accountability Office.
  This new version of the congressional notification provision revives 
language similar to the first fiscal year 2010 intelligence 
authorization bill that passed the Senate by unanimous consent last 
year. This language provides that the executive branch will be required 
to provide a ``general description'' to all of the members of the 
congressional intelligence committees regarding a covert action finding 
or congressional notification that has been limited to the ``Gang of 
Eight.'' This provision is limited to a description that is consistent 
with the reasons for not yet fully informing all the members of the 
intelligence committees, so the provision is somewhat weaker than our 
original language.
  Another change to the congressional notification provision is the 
insertion of a requirement that the decision to limit access to ``Gang 
of Eight'' findings and notifications be reviewed within the executive 
branch every 180 days. If the President determines that such 
limitations are no longer necessary, then all the members of the 
congressional intelligence committees will be provided access to such 
findings and notifications.
  These limitations are often revisited periodically by the executive 
branch, so this time period should not cause difficulty for the 
administration. We have seen in the past the benefits that come from 
bringing the full committees into the loop as soon as possible. 
Moreover, operational sensitivities can change over time. By requiring 
a periodic review, this provision ensures that highly sensitive matters 
will remain protected as long as necessary, while also promoting a full 
cooperative relationship between the two branches.

[[Page S7559]]

  The substitute amendment contains only one real new provision, 
section 348, which requires the DNI to issue a written directive 
governing GAO access to information in the possession of the 
intelligence community. This provision does not change the underlying 
law with respect to GAO access to intelligence information, but will 
allow Congress to study this issue more closely in the future.
  It is well past time that Congress sent an intelligence authorization 
bill to the President for his signature. Only by fulfilling our 
legislative function will we get back on track with performing 
effective and much-needed intelligence oversight.
  I commend Senator Feinstein for her leadership in shepherding this 
bill through the committee and the Senate. I appreciate her willingness 
to work through the countless issues raised throughout this process. I 
also thank my colleagues for supporting this bill.
  This 2010 intelligence authorization bill has the full support of the 
Senate. Senior administration officials have said they will recommend 
that the President sign this compromise text into law. I urge the House 
of Representatives to pass this bill as soon as possible so that we can 
get back on track with our intelligence oversight.
  Mr. CASEY. I ask unanimous consent the Feinstein-Bond substitute 
amendment which is at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as 
amended be read a third time, that after the reading of the Conrad pay-
go letter into the Record the Senate bill be passed, as amended, that 
any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will read the pay-go letter.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Statement of Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation for 
     H.R. 2701, as amended.

       Total Budgetary Effects of H.R. 2701 for the 5-year 
     Statutory PAYGO Scorecard: $0.
       Total Budgetary Effects of H.R. 2701 for the 10-year 
     Statutory PAYGO Scorecard: $0.

       Also submitted for the Record as part of this statement is 
     a table prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, which 
     provides additional information on the budgetary effects on 
     this Act, as follows:

 CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR THE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE FOR H.R. 2701, THE INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR
                                                    2010, AS PROVIDED TO CBO ON SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        2010   2011   2012   2013   2014   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019   2020  2010-2015  2010-2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Net Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit
 
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Impact a.....................      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0         0          0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a The legislation would authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States
  Government and establish additional intelligence-related offices and programs within the federal government.

  The amendment (No. 4665) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill read a third 
time.
  The bill (H.R. 2701), as amended, was read the third time and passed.

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