[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 192 (Wednesday, December 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8611-S8617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to Calendar No. 161.
[[Page S8612]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 1892) to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2012 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.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am very pleased to rise today in
support of the Senate's passage of the Intelligence Authorization Act
of Fiscal Year 2012. I understand that the House of Representatives
intends to consider this legislation on the suspension calendar later
this week, so it should be enacted prior to the end of this session.
This will be the third time in less than 15 months that the Congress
will enact an intelligence authorization bill--including bills for
fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012--after a 6 year hiatus in passing
such legislation. What this means is that Congress, through the Senate
and House Intelligence Committees, is restoring oversight over the
intelligence community and fulfilling our responsibility to thoroughly
examine intelligence policies and budgets.
Unlike the last two authorization bills, this bill was completed
contemporaneously with, instead of after, the appropriations process
that funds intelligence efforts. The classified annex to this
legislation authorizes appropriations for intelligence activities and
has helped guide the work of the appropriations committees as they
considered intelligence spending. The days when the intelligence
community can bypass the intelligence committees and deal solely with
the appropriations committees are over.
Since receiving the President's budget request for the intelligence
community in February, the Intelligence Committee has recognized that
the massive increase in intelligence spending over the past decade has
come to an end. Our original bill, reported to the Senate in August of
this year, reduced intelligence spending below the President's request.
Since then, we have worked closely with the House Intelligence
Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the executive
branch to reflect the spending reductions set in the Budget Control Act
of 2011. The legislation we are approving today keeps funding for
intelligence essentially flat from fiscal year 2011, representing the a
meaningful reduction from the President's request.
As we look to 2013, many more difficult decisions will need to be
made to make further reductions to intelligence spending. It is my
belief that real reductions in intelligence spending can be
accomplished without sacrificing capability, but this will require a
rigorous review and the executive branch being more forthcoming than it
has been to date about where it believes cuts are possible.
Of course, the bill also provides significant legislative provisions
to give the intelligence community the authorities and flexibilities it
needs to continue protecting our national security and providing
policymakers the information they need to make foreign policy and
security decisions; and other provisions for the effective and
appropriate functioning of our intelligence apparatus.
I note that passage of the last intelligence authorization bill
occurred shortly after the strike leading to the death of Usama bin
Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Since then, the intelligence community
has had continued success in tracking and removing terrorist threats to
the United States. Senior leaders and commanders of al-Qaida, including
all of its affiliate groups as well as militant organizations involved
in the Afghan war, have been removed from the fight, and terrorist
plots and plotting have been disrupted. Among them, a plot to kill the
Saudi Ambassador to the United States was thwarted due to the skillful
and cooperative efforts of the FBI, DEA, CIA, and others.
Intelligence has factored into significant policy decisions and U.S.
actions, including with respect to interdicting the proliferation of
weapons, setting economic sanctions, protecting ISAF forces in
Afghanistan, blocking cyber attacks against our government and certain
critical infrastructure companies, and contributing to the NATO effort
in Libya.
It is my hope that the provisions in this bill will continue to aid
the intelligence community as it conducts its missions; ensure better
stewardship of taxpayer dollars; and support its thousands of civilians
and military employees.
Among other things, this bill includes: A section that provides for
burial allowances for intelligence employees killed in the line of
duty, similar to those for members of the U.S. military; New
procurement authorities that enable intelligence agencies to protect
against supply chain risk to information technologies; a measure
authorizing new accounts at the Department of Treasury that will enable
defense intelligence agencies to become financially auditable;
Provisions that strengthen congressional oversight of the transfer of
detainees from Guantanamo Bay; a section that will improve the accuracy
of intelligence community cost estimates; and Provisions that provide
the Director of National Intelligence with needed personnel management
authorities.
As I noted, the bill contains a 275-page classified schedule and
annex that authorizes intelligence funding and implements the
committee's oversight findings over the past year. That annex is
available to all Senators in the intelligence committee's offices.
Mr. President, let me note my sincere appreciation for the close
collaboration of Senator Chambliss, the vice chairman of the committee,
throughout the legislative process. He and his staff--in particular
Martha Scott Poindexter and Jacqueline Russell--have continued the
bipartisan approach that the committee followed in the last Congress,
and we have together agreed to every provision in the bill.
As can be imagined, it has taken enormous effort to produce a third
bill in such a short time frame. I sincerely thank the efforts of the
staff to review the President's requested funding levels and
legislative provisions, to draft legislation, and to negotiate a final
product. In particular, I thank Lorenzo Goco, the Deputy Staff Director
who has overseen the legislative efforts, Michael Davidson, the general
counsel of the Senate Intelligence Committee until this past Labor Day,
and Christine Healey, who has carried the load of the legislative work
throughout and who replaced Mr. Davidson as general counsel. I also
extend my appreciation for the work of Eric Losick and Mike Buchwald,
majority counsel on the Committee, and Jack Livingston and Kathleen
Rice, the minority counsel.
Similarly, the Committee's budget staff has worked diligently and
expertly in their preparation of the classified annex to this bill and
in working with intelligence agencies to understand and guide their
efforts. I thank the committee's budget director, Peggy Evans, and the
budget staff through this period: Hayden Milberg, Randy Bookout, Andrew
Kerr, John Dickas, Paul Matulic, Matt Pollard, Amy Hopkins, Jamal Ware,
Iram Ali, Jeffrey Howard, Andy Grotto, Jim Smythers, Brian Miller, Eric
Chapman, John Maguire, Tyler Stephens, Evan Gottesman, Brian Walsh,
Ryan Tully, and Christian Cook.
I also appreciate the work and relationship with Chairman Rogers and
Ranking Member Ruppersberger of the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence. The version of the legislation approved today builds on
the House legislation, and our two committees have consulted closely
throughout this process. We held a joint open hearing on the tenth
anniversary of the September 11, 2011, attacks and I look forward to
continuing to work together next year to enact the fiscal year 2013
intelligence authorization bill.
Let me also note my appreciation for two other Senate committees. The
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense has closely followed our
authorizations as it drafted its appropriations bill. This underscores
the work done in our bill, and limits to a minimum the cases where the
authorization and appropriations levels do not match.
We have also worked over the past week with the Senate Armed Services
Committee to include language in the classified annex to this bill
concerning the Military Intelligence Program and a military
construction program authorized for the National Security
[[Page S8613]]
Agency. The Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee
both exercise jurisdiction over military construction projects with
intelligence funding; in this instance, the two committees have both
included authorizations for the High Performance Computing Center II,
and have jointly agreed to the language included in this annex.
Finally, Mr. President, I note that while there is no committee
report or conference report associated with the text that we are
approving today, the Intelligence Committee issued a report to
accompany the bill it reported to the Senate in August. As the
legislation has changed since House passage of its authorization bill
and consideration today of this amendment, I ask unanimous consent to
have printed in the Record a section-by-section analysis of the
legislation so as to provide for the legislative history needed to
explain the authors' intent and better clarify the effects of the
provisions included.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
For purposes of the legislative history of the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, the Managers
Amendment we will pass today is an amendment in the nature of
a substitute to H.R. 1892. In large measure, the legislative
text of H.R. 1892 and this Managers Amendment follows the
legislative text of S. 1458, reported from the Select
Committee on Intelligence on August 1, 2011, Report No. 112-
43. The Managers Amendment also includes a classified
Schedule of Authorizations and annex; this is a modified
version of the classified Schedule and annex that were passed
by the House of Representatives. They have been made
available to the Executive Branch and appropriate
congressional committees. The report language in the annex
should be understood to represent congressional intent where
reference is made to the Committee.
Section-by-Section Analysis and Explanation
Title I--Budget and Personnel Authorizations
Section 101. Authorization of appropriations
Section 101 lists the United States Government departments,
agencies, and other elements for which the Act authorizes
appropriations for intelligence and intelligence-related
activities for Fiscal Year 2012.
Section 102. Classified Schedule of Authorizations
Section 102(a) provides that the details of the amounts
authorized to be appropriated for intelligence and
intelligence-related activities and the applicable personnel
levels for Fiscal Year 2012 are contained in the classified
Schedule of Authorizations and that the classified Schedule
of Authorizations shall be made available to the Committees
on Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives
and to the President. Section 102(b) provides that the
President shall not publicly disclose the classified Schedule
except as provided in Section 601(a) of the Implementing
Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007; to the
extent necessary to implement the budget; or as otherwise
required by law. Section 102(c) authorizes the Director of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to expend funds
authorized in the Act for a purpose further described in the
classified annex.
Section 103. Personnel Ceiling Adjustments
Section 103 is intended to provide additional flexibility
to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in managing
the civilian personnel of the Intelligence Community. Section
103(a) provides that the DNI may authorize employment of
civilian personnel (expressed as full-time equivalent
positions) in Fiscal Year 2012 in excess of the number of
authorized full-time equivalent positions by an amount not
exceeding 3 percent of the total limit applicable to each IC
element under Section 102. The DNI may do so only if
necessary to the performance of important intelligence
functions.
Section 103(b) provides additional flexibility when the
heads of Intelligence Community elements determine that work
currently performed by contract personnel should be performed
by government employees. It does so by authorizing the DNI to
authorize employment of additional full-time equivalent
personnel in a number equal to the number of full-time
equivalent contract personnel currently performing that work.
Under this section, any exercise of this authority should be
implemented in accordance with a plan that includes adequate
support for personnel. It is intended that the exercise of
this authority should result in an actual reduction of the
number of contract personnel and not a shift of resources to
hire other contract personnel.
The DNI must report the decision to allow an Intelligence
Community element to exceed the personnel ceiling or to
convert contract personnel under Section 103(a) and (b) in
advance to the congressional intelligence committees.
During consideration of the Fiscal Year 2008 request, the
congressional intelligence committees learned that practices
within different elements of the Intelligence Community on
the counting of personnel with respect to legislatively-fixed
ceilings were inconsistent, and included not counting certain
personnel at all against personnel ceilings. The committees
requested that the Intelligence Community Chief Human Capital
Officer ensure that by the beginning of Fiscal Year 2010
there would be a uniform and accurate method of counting all
Intelligence Community employees under a system of personnel
levels expressed as full-time equivalents. The committees
also expressed their view that the DNI express the personnel
levels for civilian employees of the Intelligence Community
as full-time equivalent positions in the congressional budget
justifications for Fiscal Year 2010. The DNI has done so. In
addition, the DNI has issued a policy to ensure a uniform
method for counting Intelligence Community employees.
Subsection (c) confirms in statute the obligation of the DNI
to establish these guidelines.
Section 104. Intelligence Community Management Account
Section 104 authorizes appropriations for the Intelligence
Community Management Account (ICMA) of the DNI and sets the
authorized full-time equivalent personnel levels for the
elements within the ICMA for Fiscal Year 2012.
Subsection (a) authorizes appropriations of $576,393,000
for Fiscal Year 2012 for the activities of the ICMA.
Subsection (b) authorizes 777 full-time or full-time
equivalent personnel for elements within the ICMA for Fiscal
Year 2012 and provides that such personnel may be permanent
employees of the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence (ODNI) or detailed from other elements of the
United States Government.
Subsection (c) authorizes additional appropriations and
full-time equivalent personnel for the classified Community
Management Account as specified in the classified Schedule of
Authorizations and permits the funding for advanced research
and development to remain available through September 30,
2013.
Title II--Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System
Section 201. Authorization of appropriations
Section 201 authorizes appropriations in the amount of
$514,000,000 for Fiscal Year 2012 for the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) Retirement and Disability Fund. For
Fiscal Year 2011, Congress authorized $292,000,000. While
that level was consistent with prior authorizations, it did
not fully fund, as prior authorizations had not fully funded,
the obligations of the Fund. The Fiscal Year 2012 increase is
based on the Administration's determination, which the
congressional intelligence committees support, that the
obligations of this retirement and disability system should
be fully funded.
Title III--General Intelligence Community Matters
Section 301. Increase in employee compensation and benefits
authorized by law
Section 301 provides that funds authorized to be
appropriated by this Act for salary, pay, retirement, and
other benefits for federal employees may be increased by such
additional or supplemental amounts as may be necessary for
increases in compensation or benefits authorized by law.
Section 302. Restriction on conduct of intelligence
activities
Section 302 provides that the authorization of
appropriations by the Act shall not be deemed to constitute
authority for the conduct of any intelligence activity that
is not otherwise authorized by the Constitution or laws of
the United States.
Section 303. Annual report on hiring of National Security
Education Program participants
Section 303 requires a report not later than 90 days after
the end of the fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014, by the head
of each element of the Intelligence Community on the number
of personnel hired by such element during such fiscal year
who were at any time recipients of a grant or scholarship
under the David L. Boren National Security Education Act of
1991 (50 USC 1901 et seq.). The report may be in classified
form.
Section 304. Enhancement of authority for flexible personnel
management among the elements of the intelligence
community
Section 304 adds a subsection to Section 102A of the
National Security Act of 1947 to promote the ability to
manage all the elements of the Intelligence Community as a
single cohesive community. The new Subsection 102A(v) enables
the DNI, with the concurrence of the head of the covered
department concerned and in coordination with the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to convert
competitive service positions within an Intelligence
Community element of the covered department to excepted
positions and to establish new positions in the excepted
service within an Intelligence Community element of a covered
department. Under Section 304, an incumbent occupying a
position on the date of enactment selected to be converted to
the excepted service shall have the right to refuse the
conversion. Once such individual no longer occupies the
position, the position may be converted.
Because of their unique intelligence, investigative and
national security missions, most Intelligence Community
elements are in the excepted civil service. However, civilian
employees in several smaller Intelligence Community elements
are still covered under competitive service rules. The
ability to convert those positions to the excepted service
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will enable the Intelligence Community to maintain a system
throughout the Intelligence Community that is responsive to
the needs of the Intelligence Community both for secrecy and
the ability to quickly respond to personnel requirements. The
DNI has requested a similar authority in the past. Under
Section 304, the covered departments are the Department of
Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department
of State, and the Department of the Treasury.
Although new positions in the excepted service may be
created within an element of the Intelligence Community
within the covered departments under this authority, the
personnel ceilings referred to in Section 102(a) still apply
to the number of personnel in an element. It is not intended
for this conversion authority to be used to increase the
number of full-time equivalent personnel in an intelligence
element above the applicable personnel ceilings.
Section 305. Preparation of nuclear proliferation assessment
statements
As set forth in the Atomic Energy Act, the United States
may enter into a Civilian Nuclear Agreement (or ``123
Agreement'') with another nation or multinational
organization. After negotiating the terms of the 123
Agreement, the Administration submits the terms to Congress
for review along with a Nuclear Proliferation Assessment
Statement (NPAS). Under current law, the NPAS is drafted by
the State Department, in consultation with the Director of
Central Intelligence; the Act has not been amended to reflect
the establishment of the Director of National Intelligence.
In multiple reports, the Government Accountability Office has
identified various problems with this process, including
insufficient time for consultation with the Intelligence
Community, a lack of adequate formal interagency guidance for
NPAS development, and ambiguity as to whether Intelligence
Community comments were fully incorporated into the final
NPAS. Section 305 is a modification of Section 305 of S. 1458
as reported from the Senate Intelligence Committee and is
intended to clarify the role of the DNI and the Intelligence
Community in the NPAS process.
Section 305 amends the National Security Act of 1947 to
require the DNI, in consultation with the heads of the
appropriate elements of the Intelligence Community and the
Secretary of State, to provide an addendum to each NPAS
accompanying a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement,
containing a comprehensive analysis of the country's export
control system with respect to nuclear-related matters. The
DNI is to provide the addendum to the President, the
congressional intelligence committees and the congressional
foreign relations committees.
Section 306. Cost estimates
Section 306 amends Section 506A of the National Security
Act of 1947 to require that independent cost estimates
include all costs associated with a major system acquisition
even when a service or capability to deliver end-to-end
functionality will be provided by another Intelligence
Community agency or element. This additional requirement in
the preparation of the independent cost estimate will assist
Congress and the Executive Branch in evaluating the full cost
of an acquisition, including the costs to process, exploit,
disseminate, and store the information such major systems
collect. The amendments made by Section 306 become effective
180 days after enactment.
Section 307. Updates of intelligence relating to terrorism
recidivism of detainees held at United States Naval
Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Section 307 provides for a regular unclassified summary of
intelligence relating to recidivism of detainees formerly
held at Guantanamo Bay to be made public by the DNI. Section
334 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2010, Public Law 111-259, required the DNI, along with the
Director of the CIA and the Director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency, to make publicly available, on a one-
time basis, an unclassified summary that includes the
intelligence relating to former Guantanamo detainees. Under
Section 319 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009,
Public Law 111-32, the President is required to submit
classified quarterly reports to Congress that include
classified information about detainees' recidivist
activities.
Section 307 amends the National Security Act of 1947 to
require the semiannual updating of the Section 334 report,
which is to include an unclassified summary of intelligence
relating to recidivism of detainees currently or formerly
held at Guantanamo Bay and an assessment of the likelihood
that such detainees will engage in terrorism or communicate
with persons in terrorist organizations. The initial update
shall be made publicly available not later than 10 days after
the date that the first report following enactment is
submitted to members and committees pursuant to Section 319
of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009. The summary
will be prepared by the DNI, in consultation with the
Director of the CIA and the Director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency, and will include the number of confirmed
or suspected recidivists.
Section 308. Notification of transfer of a detainee held at
United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Section 308 requires the President to submit to Congress,
in classified form, at least 30 days prior to the transfer or
release of an individual detained at Naval Station,
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as of June 24, 2009, the following
information: (1) the name of the individual to be transferred
or released; (2) the country or freely associated state to
which the individual is to be transferred; (3) the terms of
any agreement with the country or state for the acceptance of
such individual, including the amount of any financial
assistance related to such agreement; and (4) the agencies or
departments of the United States responsible for ensuring the
agreement is carried out.
Section 308 is a modification of Section 306 of S. 1458,
which amended similar notification requirements found in
Public Law 111-83, 123 Stat. 2178, and Public Law 111-88, 123
Stat. 2963. Section 308 requires the notification be at least
30 days, rather than 15 days, prior to transfer and requires
information be provided concerning what agencies or
departments of the United States, if any, are responsible for
ensuring any agreement with the receiving country or state is
carried out. Nothing in this section is to be construed to
supersede or otherwise affect Section 1028 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 or Section
8120 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2012.
Section 309. Enhanced procurement authority to manage supply
chain risk
Section 309 authorizes the heads of those elements of the
Intelligence Community outside the Department of Defense to
take certain procurement actions under certain circumstances
to reduce the risk that an adversary may sabotage,
maliciously introduce unwanted functions, or otherwise
subvert information systems so as to surveil, deny, disrupt
or otherwise degrade them. Section 309 is based on Section
806 of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2011 (Public Law 111-383).
Section 309(a) defines the following terms: covered agency,
covered item of supply, covered procurement, covered
procurement action, covered system, and supply chain risk.
The definitions of these terms are modifications of the
definitions of these terms as found in Section 309 of S.
1458, to include specific references to appropriate
provisions of existing law.
Under subsection (b), the head of a covered agency, in
consultation with the DNI, is authorized to carry out a
covered procurement action and limit the disclosure of
information concerning the basis for such action. Covered
procurement actions are subject to the conditions in
subsection (c), including appropriate consultation with
procurement officials within the covered agency and a
determination made in writing that the use of the authority
is necessary to protect national security. In addition, there
must be a determination that less intrusive measures are not
reasonably available. Where the head of the covered agency
plans to limit disclosure of information relating to the
basis for carrying out a covered procurement action, the risk
to national security due to disclosing such information must
outweigh the risk of not disclosing such information.
The head of the covered agency must give notice to the
congressional intelligence committees of a determination to
exercise this authority. Subsection (d) limits delegation of
the authority to take a covered procurement action to no
lower than the level of the service acquisition executive for
the agency concerned. Subsection (e) provides that the
authority under the section is in addition to any other
authority under any other provision of law. The authority
provided in Section 309 is not intended to alter or effect
the exercise of any other provision of law, including other
procurement authorities available to an intelligence agency
head to protect the national security.
The requirements of Section 309 take effect 180 days after
enactment and expire on the date that Section 806 of the Ike
Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2011 expires, which will occur in January 2014.
Section 310. Burial allowances
Section 310 authorizes the head of a department or agency
that contains an element of the Intelligence Community to pay
a burial allowance to the estate of a civilian officer or
employee of such department or agency who dies as the result
of hostile or terrorist activities or intelligence activities
having a substantial element of risk. The burial allowance is
to reimburse the estate for burial expenses, including
recovery, mortuary, funeral, or memorial service, cremation,
burial costs, and costs of transportation. The amount of the
burial allowance is not to be greater than the maximum
reimbursable amount available to the uniformed services under
Department of Defense Instruction 1344.08 or its successor,
now set at $8,800, plus actual transportation costs, and is
in addition to any other benefit permitted under any other
provision of law, including funds that may be expended as
specified in the General Provisions of the classified annex
accompanying this Act.
In addition, Section 310 requires the Director of the OPM,
in consultation with the DNI and the Secretaries of Labor and
Defense, to submit a report to Congress no later than 180
days after enactment on the feasibility of implementing
legislation to provide for burial allowances at a level that
adequately addresses the cost of burial expenses and provides
for equitable treatment when any officer or employee of the
federal government dies as the result of an injury sustained
in the performance of official duties.
Section 311. Modification of certain reporting requirements
The Congress frequently requests information from the
Intelligence Community in the
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form of reports, the contents of which are specifically
defined by statute. The reports prepared pursuant to these
statutory requirements provide Congress with an invaluable
source of information about specific matters of concern.
Congressional reporting requirements, and particularly
recurring reporting requirements, however, can place a
significant burden on the resources of the Intelligence
Community. The congressional intelligence committees are
therefore reconsidering these reporting requirements on a
periodic basis to ensure that the reports that have been
requested are the best mechanism for the Congress to receive
the information it seeks. In some cases, annual reports can
be replaced with briefings or notifications that provide the
Congress with more timely information and offer the
Intelligence Community a direct line of communication to
respond to congressional concerns.
In response to a request from the DNI, the congressional
intelligence committees examined a set of recurring reporting
requirements nominated by the Intelligence Community. Because
the majority of recurring reports provide critical
information relevant to challenges facing the Intelligence
Community today, Section 311 eliminates or modifies only four
statutory reporting requirements, all from past intelligence
authorization acts or the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004.
Section 312. Review of strategic and competitive analysis
conducted by the intelligence community
Section 312 requires the DNI to direct the Director's
Senior Advisory Group to conduct a comprehensive review of
the strategic and competitive analysis of international
terrorism and homegrown violent extremism conducted by
elements of the Intelligence Community during the 12 month
period following enactment. Within 15 months of enactment,
the Director shall submit to the congressional intelligence
committees a report on the results of the review and any
actions taken by the Director to implement the
recommendations, if any, of the Senior Advisory Group based
on such results.
TITLE IV--MATTERS RELATING TO ELEMENTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Subtitle A--Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Section 401. Intelligence community assistance to counter
drug trafficking organizations using public lands
Section 401 requires the DNI to consult with the heads of
the federal land management agencies on the appropriate
actions the Intelligence Community can take to assist such
agencies in responding to the threat from international drug
trafficking organizations or other drug traffickers that are
currently or have previously used public lands in the United
States to further their operations. The DNI is to submit a
report to the congressional intelligence and judiciary
committees within 180 days of enactment on the results of
this consultation.
Section 402. Application of certain financial reporting
requirements to the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence
Section 402 provides a limited grace period for the ODNI in
meeting the requirements of 31 USC 3515 until Fiscal Year
2013. The DNI, in requesting this legislative provision,
stated that the grace period will allow time for the
implementation of system improvements as well as process
changes in the financial management system currently
supporting the ODNI. Together these efforts are intended to
yield financial statements that meet the prescribed legal and
audit standards.
Although the ODNI, under 31 USC 3515, is required to
prepare and submit to the Congress and the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget an audited financial
statement for the preceding fiscal year by March 1st, Section
369 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2010, enacted on October 7, 2010, directs the DNI ``to
develop a plan and schedule to achieve a full, unqualified
audit of each element of the intelligence community not later
than September 30, 2013.'' Section 402 will align the
statutory requirement for auditability with the plan for
achieving auditability set forth in the Fiscal Year 2010 Act.
Section 403. Public availability of information regarding the
Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
Section 403 requires the DNI to establish and maintain on
the publicly accessible ODNI website information relating to
the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community
including methods to contact the Inspector General. Section
403 is based on a similar requirement in Section 8L of the
Inspector General Act, as added by the Inspector General
Reform Act of 2008, 5 USC App., and is similar to Section
413, applicable to the CIA Inspector General. The
information about the Inspector General is to be obvious
and facilitate access to the Inspector General. Given that
most of the Inspector General's reports will be
classified, Section 403 does not require that Inspector
General reports and audits be posted on the publicly
accessible website.
Section 404. Clarification of Status of Chief Information
Officer in the Executive Schedule
Section 404 amends 5 USC 5315 to establish the salary level
of the Chief Information Officer of the Intelligence
Community at Level IV of the Executive Schedule, the level of
other chief information officers in the federal government
with comparable duties and responsibilities. The Chief
Information Officer of the Intelligence Community is a
position established in Section 103G of the National Security
Act, added by Section 303 of Public Law 108-487, the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, and
amended by Section 404 of Public Law 111-259, the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.
Section 405. Temporary appointment to fill vacancies within
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Section 405 permits the President to make temporary
appointments to fill vacancies in offices within the ODNI
that require Senate confirmation (except the DNI, for whom by
Section 103A(a)(6) of the National Security Act of 1947 the
Principal Deputy DNI is next in line) with an individual who
serves in another element of the Intelligence Community. A
similar provision was requested by the DNI.
The Vacancies Act (5 USC 3345(a)(1)) provides that upon a
vacancy in a Senate-confirmed position (1) the first
assistant of the office may begin serving as the acting
officer immediately and automatically upon the occurrence of
the vacancy; (2) another officer who has already received
Senate confirmation may be directed by the President to serve
as the acting officer; and (3) certain other senior agency
officials may be designated by the President to serve in an
acting capacity. Given the relatively small size of the ODNI,
the fact that a significant number of the personnel within
the ODNI are on detail to the office from other elements of
the Intelligence Community, and the fact that positions in
the ODNI to which the Vacancy Act applies serve the entire
Intelligence Community (such as the Director of the National
Counterterrorism Center or the Inspector General for the
Intelligence Community), an individual employed within the
Intelligence Community but outside the ODNI may be best
suited to fill a key leadership position temporarily.
Section 405 addresses this issue by expanding the
President's choice for appointment under the third category
of the Vacancies Act to include senior officials from any
element of the Intelligence Community. Nothing in Section 401
modifies or precludes the utilization of sections 3345(a)(1)
or (2) of title 5 to fill vacancies.
Subtitle B--Central Intelligence Agency
Section 411. Acceptance of gifts
Section 411 is a provision that arose out of the CIA's
review of benefits available to the survivors of CIA
employees killed in the line of duty following the December
2009 attack at Khowst, Afghanistan. The CIA concluded that
the Director of the CIA did not have the authority under
Section 12 of the CIA Act to accept and use gifts for
purposes related to the welfare, education and recreation of
those survivors. Under current law, the Director of the CIA
may ``accept, hold, administer, and use gifts of money,
securities and other property whenever the Director
determines it would be in the interest of the United States .
. . for purposes relating to the general welfare, education,
or recreation of employees or dependents of employees of the
Agency or for similar purposes. . . .''
Section 411 amends Section 12 of the CIA Act to authorize
the Director (or the Director's designee) both to accept
gifts and to use them for the welfare of employees injured in
the line of duty without legal concern whether those actions
are for the general welfare of the CIA employee population as
a whole. It also provides that gifts may be used for the
assistance of the family of CIA officers who were injured or
who died from hostile or terrorist activities or in
connection with other intelligence activities having a
substantial element of risk. Gifts for injured employees and
their families or survivors are to be accepted by the CIA on
behalf of the CIA employees concerned, and not directly by
such employees or their family members. The Director is
authorized to assign the gifts accepted under the new
authority provided by this section to the CIA officers and
their surviving family members.
Section 411 provides that any exercise of authority under
Section 12, including the acceptance of gifts to provide for
the general welfare, education, or recreation of the CIA
employee population as a whole, shall be made according to
regulations developed by the Director of the CIA in
consultation with the Director of the Office of Government
Ethics, consistent with all relevant ethical constraints and
principles.
Section 412. Foreign language proficiency requirements for
Central Intelligence Agency officers
Section 412 makes amendments in Section 104A(g) of the
National Security Act of 1947 which imposes foreign language
requirements on certain personnel within the CIA. Section 412
is intended to tie the need for foreign language skills to
officers in occupations where foreign language ability is
most important, rather than to specific positions, within the
Directorate of Intelligence career service or the National
Clandestine Service career service. It is intended to
eliminate the need for the Director of the CIA to approve
waivers for the promotion, appointment, or transfer of
personnel such as attorneys or human resources officers for
whom the requirement is not intended to apply. Section 412
sets the language proficiency at the objective level of level
3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable Language
[[Page S8616]]
Skills Level or a commensurate proficiency level.
Section 412 requires the Director of the CIA to provide a
report within 45 days of enactment, and three subsequent
annual reports, to the congressional intelligence committees
on the number of personnel transferred to a Senior
Intelligence Service position in the Directorate of
Intelligence career service or the National Clandestine
career service who did not meet the foreign language
requirements of Section 104A(g). Section 412 also makes
technical corrections to delete outdated references to the
Directorate of Operations.
Section 413. Public availability of information regarding the
Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency
Section 413 requires the Director of the CIA to establish
and maintain on the publicly accessible CIA website
information relating to the CIA Inspector General including
methods to contact the Inspector General. Section 413 is
based on a similar requirement in the Inspector General
Reform Act, 5 USC App. 8L, and is similar to Section 403. The
information about the Inspector General is to be obvious and
facilitate access to the Inspector General. Given that most
of the Inspector General's reports will be classified,
Section 413 does not require that Inspector General reports
and audits be posted on the publicly accessible website.
Section 413 is based upon a request of the CIA Inspector
General.
Section 414. Creating an official record of the Osama bin
Laden operation
Section 414 makes findings concerning the raid of May 1,
2011, that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in his
compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Section 414 includes a
statement of the sense of Congress that the events that
transpired before, during, and as a result of the raid be
memorialized to allow the United States to have an accurate
account of these events in the future. Section 414 requires
the Director of the CIA to provide to the congressional
intelligence committees the report being prepared by the
Center for the Study of Intelligence that documents the
history of and lessons learned from the raid not later than
90 days after its completion and to preserve any records,
including intelligence information and assessments, used to
generate this report.
Section 415. Recruitment of personnel in the Office of the
Inspector General
Section 415 requires the Inspector General of the OPM, in
consultation with the Inspector General of the CIA, to
conduct a study of the personnel authorities and available
personnel benefits of the Office of the Inspector General of
the CIA. The study shall include identification of any
barriers and disincentives to the recruitment or retention
of experienced investigators within the Office of the
Inspector General of the CIA. The study shall compare the
personnel authorities of the CIA Inspector General with
the personnel authorities of other federal Inspectors
General, including a comparison of the benefits available
to experienced investigators within the offices of other
federal Inspectors General with those available to
investigators within the Office of the CIA Inspector
General. The OPM Inspector General is to submit the report
to the congressional intelligence and homeland security
committees not later than 120 days after enactment.
Subtitle C--National Security Agency
Section 421. Additional authorities for National Security
Agency security personnel
Section 421 amends Section 11 of the National Security
Agency Act of 1959 to authorize NSA security personnel to
transport apprehended individuals from NSA premises to the
custody of law enforcement officials. Under current law, when
NSA security personnel apprehend an individual, they must
wait with the individual until local law enforcement
personnel arrive to complete the transfer of custody. This
can require NSA personnel to wait, frequently for hours,
often with the apprehended individual in a security vehicle,
for the transfer to local law enforcement. According to the
DNI, from 2004 to 2009, on 448 occasions, the apprehension of
an individual engaged NSA personnel and transportation
resources for over 2 hours.
Section 421 provides a limited expansion of authority for
NSA security personnel to transport apprehended individuals
to the custody of local law enforcement within 30 miles of
NSA premises. This authority is to be used sparingly by NSA
security personnel under a well-established regime of
administrative controls and management oversight, and only
with prior consent from the accepting jurisdiction.
Subtitle D--Other Elements
Section 431. Codification of Office of Intelligence and
Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security as an
element of the intelligence community
Section 431 amends Section 3(4)(K) of the National Security
Act of 1947 in order to include the Office of Intelligence
and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security within
the term ``intelligence community'' for purposes of the Act.
This provides for a more specific reference to the Office of
Intelligence and Analysis, in addition to the intelligence
element of the Coast Guard, that is part of the Intelligence
Community, in the same manner as Congress has done in Section
3(4)(I) and (J) for the State and Treasury Department
elements of the Intelligence Community.
Section 432. Federal Bureau of Investigation participation in
the Department of Justice leave bank
Section 432 provides for participation of employees of the
FBI in the Department of Justice's Voluntary Leave Bank
Program. The Voluntary Leave Bank Program allows federal
employees to donate to and to receive donations from a leave
``bank'' to cover absences necessitated by extraordinary
medical conditions. Current law does not allow participation
by FBI employees in the Department's program, although the
FBI is part of the Department. While 5 USC 6372(c) would
allow FBI to establish its own voluntary leave bank program,
the Director of the FBI has determined that it would be more
cost effective and efficient to allow FBI employees to
participate in the larger Department of Justice program and
has requested a legislative provision to accomplish this
objective for the overall benefit of the Bureau and its
personnel.
Under Section 432, the Director is to consider the
protection of sources and methods in allowing for
participation in the leave bank program. In providing for
leave bank opportunities to cover absences necessitated by
extraordinary medical conditions, it is intended that the
Director consider any impact on operations of the Bureau when
making a decision on whether to allow FBI employees to take
part in the program.
Section 433. Accounts and transfer authority for
appropriations and other amounts for intelligence
elements of the Department of Defense
Section 433 authorizes the Secretary of Defense to transfer
defense appropriations available for the activities of the
defense intelligence elements into an account or accounts
established for receipt of such funds. These accounts may
receive transfers and reimbursement from transactions,
authorized by law, between the defense intelligence elements
and other entities, and the DNI may also transfer funds into
these accounts. Appropriations transferred pursuant to this
section shall remain available for the same time period, and
for the same purposes, as the appropriations from which funds
were transferred. This section is intended to ensure improved
auditing of defense intelligence appropriations.
Section 434. Report on training standards of defense
intelligence workforce
Section 434 requires not later than 180 days after
enactment the DNI and the Under Secretary of Defense for
Intelligence to submit to the congressional intelligence and
armed services committees a report on the training standards
of the defense intelligence workforce. The report is to
include a description of existing training, education, and
professional development standards applied to the personnel
of defense intelligence components, and an assessment of the
ability to implement a certification program based on
achievement of required training, education, and professional
development standards.
TITLE V--OTHER MATTERS
Section 501. Report on airspace restrictions for use of
unmanned aerial vehicles along the border of the United
States and Mexico
Section 501 requires the Secretary of Homeland Security not
later than 90 days after enactment to submit to the
congressional intelligence and homeland security committees a
report on whether restrictions on the use of airspace are
hampering the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the
Department of Homeland Security along the international
border between the United States and Mexico.
Section 502. Sense of Congress regarding integration of
fusion centers
Section 502 states that it is the sense of Congress that
the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the
DNI, should continue to integrate and utilize fusion centers
to enlist all of the intelligence, law enforcement, and
homeland security capabilities of the United States in a
manner that is consistent with the Constitution to prevent
acts of terrorism against the United States.
Section 503. Strategy to counter improvised explosive devices
Section 503 requires the DNI and the Secretary of Defense
to establish a coordinated strategy utilizing all available
personnel and assets for intelligence collection and analysis
to identify and counter network activity and operations in
Pakistan and Afghanistan relating to the development and use
of improvised explosive devices. Not later than 120 days
after enactment, the DNI and the Secretary of Defense are to
submit a report containing the strategy to the congressional
intelligence and armed services committees and implement such
strategy.
Section 504. Sense of Congress regarding the priority of
railway transportation security
Section 504 states that it is the sense of Congress that
railway transportation security, including subway transit
security, should continue to be prioritized in the critical
infrastructure threat assessment developed by the Office of
Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland
Security and included in threat assessment budgets of the
Intelligence Community.
Section 505. Technical amendments to the National Security
Act of 1947
Section 505 updates certain references in sections 3(6),
506(b) and 506A of the National Security Act of 1947 from the
``Director of Central Intelligence'' and the ``National
Foreign Intelligence Program'' to the ``Director
[[Page S8617]]
of National Intelligence'' and the ``National Intelligence
Program.''
Section 506. Technical amendments to Title 18, United States
Code
Section 506 updates references in 18 USC 351(a) to the
Director and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and
provides that the amended section includes the DNI, the
Principal Deputy DNI, and the Director and Deputy Director of
the CIA among officials covered by the provision.
Section 507. Budgetary effects
Section 507 states that the budget effects of this Act, for
the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act
of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest
statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation''
for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional
Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee,
provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the
vote on passage.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise to join Chairman Feinstein in
thanking my colleagues for their support of the fiscal year 2012
Intelligence Authorization Act. Over the past several months, the
committee has worked hard to resolve the final details of the bill and
concerns raised by other committees and individual Members. The end
result of this effort is a solid bill that ensures vigorous
congressional oversight and provides needed authorities to the
intelligence community.
Of course, the vast majority of what the committee authorized is
classified, so I cannot discuss specifics. I can say that the
classified annex is designed to improve the operations of the
intelligence community--from counterterrorism and counterproliferation
to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and everything in between.
This bill also implements fiscal discipline. Difficult economic times
demand austerity, but cuts in this bill are specific and targeted to
eliminate waste while preserving the critical work the intelligence
community does to protect our country.
In the unclassified area--and one of great importance to me--we
reached an agreeable compromise with the Administration that gives the
committee the information we need about the transfer of Guantanamo Bay
detainees. As the recidivism rate among former detainees rises over 27
percent, it is critical that the committee have full insight into the
transfer and resettlement process. The vast majority of detainees are
free when they are transferred, and this committee needs to know
whether the countries charged with monitoring them are capable and
willing to do so. Several provisions in this bill will help the
committee do that.
The bill also addresses concerns from other committees with national
security interests and from the House. As we go forward, I hope the
committees of the Senate will do a better job of making sure that
committees with oversight of national security issues get the
information they need, without automatic objections based on perceived
jurisdictional lines. Too often, the intelligence committee includes
other committees on receipt of reports or other products, but does not
get the same treatment in return. That's just not good for oversight or
for fulfilling our responsibility to the American people.
I am also pleased that we were able to reach reasonable solutions for
authorities requested by the intelligence community. The bill allows
for the reimbursement of burial expenses for certain government
employees who are killed as the result of hostile or terrorist
activities or die in connection with a risky intelligence activity. In
these difficult financial times, we worked hard to make sure that the
provision is in line with benefits for the families of fallen soldiers
and with the funeral costs generally paid by ordinary Americans. We
also ensured that individuals in the same agency, like the FBI, are
entitled to receive the same reimbursement. The bill also refines the
administration of the CIA's foreign language proficiency requirements
and allows for more flexible personnel management by the Director of
National Intelligence.
I thank Chairman Feinstein for her hard work and leadership in
getting this bill through the Senate. I also thank the committee staff
for once again showing their dedication and commitment to protecting
the national security of this country.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Feinstein
substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the bill, as
amended, be agreed to; the motions to reconsider be laid upon the
table, with no further intervening action or debate; and any statements
related to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 1463) 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. 1892), as amended, was read the third time and passed.
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