[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E914-E915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 16, 2015

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2596) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 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:

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise to express my opposition to H.R. 
2596, the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2016. Though I have always 
appreciated the bipartisan spirit in which the Intelligence Committee 
members work to craft the annual authorization bill, and I acknowledge 
the many vital programs the bill support, I disagree with the way H.R. 
2596 uses Overseas Contingency Operations funding and how it prevents 
the closure of the detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. For 
those reasons, I cannot vote for the bill.

[[Page E915]]

  H.R. 2596 authorizes funding to support important research, 
information gathering and information sharing resources for decision 
makers at all levels of the federal government. The funding helps to 
maintain and support the intelligence infrastructure and it helps to 
strengthen our defenses against threats from around the world. This 
bill provides for cutting-edge counterintelligence technical analysis, 
cybersecurity, it protects Americans against the use of advanced 
weapons, and helps to arrest nuclear and other weapon proliferation 
threats. The funding in this bill is also the reason we were able to 
kill Nasir al Wuhayshi, al Qaida's number two leader.
  However, the bill also continues Republican-led efforts to lock in 
sequestration and, as a result, fails to authorize sufficient funds for 
important intelligence community priorities. Instead, the bill uses OCO 
funding in ways that leaders of both parties have made clear are 
inappropriate. Just last year, House Republicans criticized the abuse 
of the OCO loophole in their budget report, stating that it 
``undermines the integrity of the budget process.'' Moreover, in 
following the strategy of the Republican budget, this legislation 
begins the process of locking in sequestration for nondefense programs, 
which will have a devastating impact on investments critical to the 
nation.
  We need to get back to the table to have an honest debate about our 
budget and renegotiate the funding caps for both defense and 
nondefense. Only then will we be able to provide the necessary 
resources for our national security needs and to ensure we keep the 
nation's commitments to education, research, infrastructure, and other 
crucial drivers of economic prosperity.

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