[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 133 (Friday, September 9, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H6037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I voted against the Intelligence 
reauthorization act reluctantly. On the eve of the 10th anniversary of 
9/11, there's still nothing more important than the security of our 
people. But I am troubled by a clear lack of progress in getting our 
arms around the sprawling intelligence bureaucracy.
  There are 856,000 people with top security clearance in the United 
States. Think about it: that's nearly the population of the entire 
State of Delaware. It's more than the number of people who live in San 
Francisco.
  In over 10,000 locations scattered across the country, there are 
1,200 government organizations, 1,900 private companies that focus on 
intelligence-gathering and homeland security. But, unfortunately, we 
have an inability for anybody to know exactly what is going on. And the 
flood of information that is generated by hundreds of thousands of 
people with opportunities for leaks and mistakes is troubling. It can 
be a source of vulnerability. After all, parts of the bureaucracy were 
well aware of the threat from Osama bin Laden immediately prior to 9/
11. It's time for us to give this the scrutiny it deserves.

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