[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16183-16188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION H.R. 2417, INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT 
                          FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004

  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call 
up House Resolution 295, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution as follows:

                              H. Res. 295

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 2417) to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
     year 2004 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. The 
     first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points 
     of order against consideration of the bill are waived. 
     General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not 
     exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the 
     chairman and ranking minority member of the Permanent Select 
     Committee on Intelligence. After general debate the bill 
     shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. 
     It shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the 
     purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment 
     in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence now printed in the bill. The 
     committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be 
     considered as read. All points of order against the committee 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived. No 
     amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a 
     substitute shall be in order except those printed in the 
     report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this 
     resolution. Each amendment may be offered only in the order 
     printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member 
     designated in the report, shall be considered as read, and 
     shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question 
     in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of 
     order against such amendments are waived. At the conclusion 
     of consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee 
     shall rise and report the bill to the House with such 
     amendments as may have been adopted. Any Member may demand a 
     separate vote in the House on any amendment adopted in the 
     Committee of the Whole to the bill or to the committee 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute. The previous 
     question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and 
     amendments thereto to final passage without intervening 
     motion except one motion to recommit with or without 
     instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Hastings), my colleague and friend, who I am happy to report sits on 
both the Committee on Rules and the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence with me, pending which I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is 
for the purposes of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Rules has granted a modified open rule 
for H.R. 2417, the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2004. 
This is the standard rule that we have used for many years for the 
consideration of the intelligence authorization. The rule is fair. It 
will allow ample time for consideration of all matters.
  The rule provides for one hour of general debate equally divided 
between the chairman and ranking member of the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence. Pro forma amendments listed in the report 
will be debatable under the 5-minute rule.
  As in past rules for this legislation, amendments were required to be 
preprinted. This allowed for the vetting of amendments regarding 
classified matters, a procedure we have found to be a very good 
practice, helpful to both the committee and Members.
  Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or without 
instructions, as was announced.
  Mr. Speaker, as in past years, we thought it best to allow Members a

[[Page 16184]]

good opportunity to review the bill and debate the issues that they 
feel are important, those particularly to our Nation's security at this 
time when national security is on our minds. Our classified annex and 
staff has been made available to any Member of Congress that was 
interested previously or is interested now in reviewing the underlying 
bill and reports.

                              {time}  1600

  H.R. 2417 is, in fact, must-do legislation because of the rules of 
the House. It authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 2004 
intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States 
Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central 
Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System. In effect, what 
that is is the 15 agencies of the intelligence community.
  In the nearly 2 years since the tragic terrorist attacks on September 
11, the intelligence community continues to build its capabilities to 
combat new threats that are threats to our Nation's safety, the well-
being of Americans at home and abroad. The bill authorizes resources to 
improve the analytical depth and capacity in all areas of intelligence, 
an area that has been in crying need. This will allow us to process and 
disseminate the information collected in a more efficient, hopefully 
wiser and more timely fashion, and make sure all interested parties 
have access.
  In addition, this legislation continues the sustained effort and 
long-term strategy to enhance human intelligence, an area that is vital 
to our current war on terrorism and is essentially the core business of 
intelligence, plans, and intentions of the enemy. H.R. 2417 helps to 
improve information sharing among Federal, State, and local 
governments. This is an area and a desire where we have overlapping 
interests with other committees in the House. This bill also provides 
including increased training for State and local officials on how the 
intelligence community can support their counterterrorism efforts, 
again, a matter of some overlapping interest.
  Mr. Speaker, these are only a few highlights from the bill that 
passed the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence unanimously, in 
the true bipartisan fashion we like to operate our House Permanent 
Select Committee on. I am sure a whole breadth of topics will be 
discussed during our general debate; and I think that we have, in this 
modified open rule, provided ample opportunity for all matters to come 
to the floor.
  I noted today in earlier debate that there was focus on one issue 
that was not necessarily the subject that was under debate, and that 
was the intelligence assessments of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. 
Obviously, this is a topic currently under review by the House 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and I would like all 
Members and all interested listeners to understand that we have been 
conducting a review on the House Permanent Select Committee to 
discharge properly our oversight responsibilities. We have been using 
the tools of oversight that are available to us. I think they are 
adequate, and I think they are being well used. I think we are using 
them in a thorough and in a nonpartisan manner. And, in fact, the 
ranking member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), and I 
have taken extra steps to detail how this review will be conducted and 
have actually issued a public statement on that.
  I think it is worth rehashing what that statement says: committee 
hearings, closed and open, as appropriate, that will permit Members to 
question senior administration officials about the prewar intelligence 
on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction holdings and programs, and its 
links to terrorism, to include questions relating to the sufficiency of 
intelligence collection and analytical coverage on these targets.
  Granting accesses to any Member of the House who wishes, under 
appropriate security provisions and House rules, to review the 
documentation provided to the Committee by the Director of Central 
Intelligence in response to a May 22 letter from the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Harman) and myself to provide information. And I am 
happy to report we are getting full cooperation from the Director of 
Central Intelligence on that.
  Staff interviews of intelligence community personnel involved in 
drafting intelligence community analyses of Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction holdings and programs and Iraqi links to terrorism.
  Regular committee updates and status reports on current efforts to 
locate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, which, after all, is a 
priority, including actions of the Iraq Survey Group and other 
government agencies employed in that task.
  And a written report suitable to the results of the committee's 
review, including an unclassified summary as promptly as is possible.
  In fact, I would say, Mr. Speaker, the committee has taken a very 
important additional step in its review. We have voted to allow access 
to the 19 volumes that we now have on hand of information provided by 
the Director of Central Intelligence outlining American intelligence 
analysis on Iraq and the sources that supported it. I do not believe we 
have ever done anything that specific before.
  To those who believe that the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence is not doing its job or that we are incapable of doing our 
job, they can come and literally read over our shoulder. I think that 
the committee is doing its job, and I am very proud of its members and 
its staff and the way it works; and I am very thankful that I have a 
ranking member who is anxious to preserve the nonpartisan approach that 
we take to the Nation's important security business.
  Those who have questions about the competence of myself, my ranking 
member, or any of the other members on the Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence are welcome to express that today in a vote of no 
confidence; but I would urge that they not do that. We are doing our 
very best, and if you would like to come upstairs and help us try to do 
it better, we would welcome your presence.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank my good 
friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), the distinguished 
chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for 
yielding me the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to first point to the extraordinary 
leadership of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) and the ranking 
member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), and the 
bipartisan spirit of the unanimous consent of the entire Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence in support of H.R. 2417. I rise in 
support of the rule providing for the consideration of that measure. It 
is the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2004. This is a 
modified open rule, and I believe that it is adequate for a bill that 
is relatively noncontroversial and was reported from the Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence by unanimous vote, as I just said.
  I would like to reiterate a part of what the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Goss) has said and state to Members who wish to do so that they 
can go to the committee's office to examine the classified schedule of 
authorizations for the National Intelligence Program. This schedule 
includes the CIA, as well as the Foreign Intelligence and 
Counterintelligence programs within the Department of Defense, the 
National Security Agency, the FBI, and the Departments of State, 
Treasury, and Imaging.
  Also included in the classified documents are the authorizations for 
the Tactical Intelligence and related activities and the Joint Military 
Intelligence program of the Department of Defense.
  Mr. Speaker, the Intelligence Authorization Act we consider today 
will provide authorizations for some of the most important national 
security programs in this country. This bill is the result of the 
committee's ongoing oversight of the intelligence community and 
oversight responsibilities, which

[[Page 16185]]

include hundreds of hearings, briefings, and site visits annually.
  We are well aware that the global war on terrorism has focused even 
greater attention on the intelligence community and its mission. The 
men and women who serve in this community have faced many challenges in 
the past 21 months and, in my judgment, have responded admirably. This 
bill assists them in these many challenges. It fully supports the 
intelligence community's efforts in the war on terrorism by providing 
funds for analysis, analytic tools, and a unified overhead imagery 
architecture.
  Overall, the committee found the intelligence community is making 
progress in many areas, but noted that there is currently no one office 
in the executive branch that is charged with coordinating all elements 
of the intelligence and law enforcement communities to ensure they 
cooperate and coordinate their efforts.
  The committee also called on the Director of Central Intelligence to 
improve diversity in the workplace and special attention on recruitment 
initiatives for women and minorities. I would be terribly remiss right 
here if I did not mention two former members, one still alive and one 
who is deceased: former member Louis Stokes from Ohio, and our dear 
departed friend Julian Dixon, from California, both of whom spearheaded 
efforts to ensure greater diversity in the intelligence community.
  I hasten to urge that the chairman of this committee, and the now 
leader of the Democratic Caucus, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Pelosi), and certainly the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), 
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo), the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Reyes), and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), who served on 
the committee previously, have all been vigorous in their assertions 
that the intelligence community must do more in the area of diversity. 
So I will be introducing an amendment that I believe will assist the 
director in attaining the goals in this critical area.
  I do urge my colleagues to support this rule and the bill; and before 
reserving the balance of my time, I take a point of personal privilege 
to thank the fine staff of the majority and the minority for the rather 
extraordinary work that it takes in putting this measure together, and 
the many measures that come across their desks on a given day, 
including putting up with some of us as Members and our requests. I 
urge my colleagues to support the rule.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and 
I wish to thank the gentleman for his kind remarks. I also associate 
myself with his remarks about Lou Stokes and Julian Dixon, as well as 
the efforts of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), when she 
was ranking member in the committee, to deal with the diversity issue. 
It is critically important. And as the gentleman from Florida knows, I 
am prepared to accept his amendment at the appropriate time and pleased 
to have his leadership.
  I would also point out that I believe the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Reyes) has shown another element that has improved our bill that we 
approved and were able to bring to the floor in our mark. So that is an 
area that has received attention because it needed attention, and I am 
entirely satisfied that we are taking good steps.
  I would also point out for other Members that we had a number of 
amendments requested. I do not think any were particularly 
controversial as to the bill itself. We have this year, because we are 
dealing with standing up the Department of Homeland Security, some 
questions about where we plug in the intelligence piece from our 
foreign intelligence community, which is a very big piece, into the 
homeland security apparatus. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Harman) has been a leader on that and done excellent work and is 
working with the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) and the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Turner), the chairman and ranking member of the Select 
Committee on Homeland Security.
  We also, obviously, are working closely in some other areas that are 
a little new for us with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley), the 
chairman of the Committee on Commerce, because of some questions about 
how we deal with some of the Treasury aspects, and, additionally, how 
we deal with some of the judicial aspects as we respond to the 
challenge in this country of preventive enforcement for people who 
would take advantage of our hospitality here and do mischief. And 
regrettably, we do get the reports regularly that there are still some 
of those folks in our midst. So we are going to be working in that 
area.
  Not all of that is going to come to a final conclusion today. We are 
going to go from here, from our authorization bill, to a conference 
process. I expect there will be progress made in some of these areas 
where there is some apparent overlap between now and conference time, 
and certainly everybody is going to be assured that this committee is 
interested only in the portfolio of intelligence. That is what we do, 
the Foreign Intelligence Program. The other committees of standing that 
have jurisdictional areas that are associated we will work with closely 
and on a friendly and nonterritorial basis. I wish to assure them all 
of that.
  We had, I understand, some amendments that came in late and we had 
one amendment that was not germane; but otherwise, I understand that 
the Committee on Rules made six amendments in order. Five were 
Democratic amendments, one was a Republican amendment; and I believe 
that the Committee on Rules responded very fairly. I see no reason to 
oppose this rule and every reason to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), the ranking 
member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I would state that I do not intend to use all the time. I 
will spend the first part of the debate on H.R. 2417 sharing my views 
about our bill and several other issues of enormous interest to the 
public.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and of the underlying 
bill, H.R. 2417. It is interesting and wonderful that both managers of 
this rule also ably serve on the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) is our bipartisan 
and collaborative chairman, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Hastings) is a senior member on the Democratic side. Both have 
contributed enormously to this rule and, obviously, enormously to the 
product we will soon debate.

                              {time}  1615

  Under this rule, as has been explained, amendments will be considered 
under the 5-minute rule and thus debate on all amendments that were 
filed with the Rules Committee, germane and did not require waivers 
will be in order. I am certain we will have a spirited debate on 
several of those amendments, and I think that is exactly what we should 
be doing in the people's House. In that vein, I will conclude, and I 
look forward to a spirited debate in a few minutes.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I, too, wish to comment and 
respond that all of us know that individuals who accept the 
responsibility of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence go to 
it with nothing but good intentions and a desire to provide the 
greatest service to this Nation, so I appreciate very much the 
leadership of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) and our ranking 
member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman). They have been 
unique in the shadow of the controversy of the Iraqi war to have come 
together on the question of weapons of mass destruction. I look forward 
to their work. They have

[[Page 16186]]

come to this floor to indicate the opportunity for Members to review 
thousands of documents.
  Mr. Speaker, I will continue to pursue my position, and that is that 
there should be an independent commission designed to investigate the 
issues dealing with the weapons of mass destruction. But in light of 
their bipartisan effort, I wrote an amendment that indicated subsequent 
to the completion of their work, 6 months subsequent to that, that we 
would have the opportunity to design a commission that would then be 
able to address the questions again, and that is an independent 
commission separate and apart from this body and as well, of course, 
the executive and legislative bodies.
  I believe the intent was respectful of the Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence. I am disappointed that the amendment was not allowed 
to be admitted on the basis of waiving the points of order, but I will 
continue to insist that this is the appropriate process to proceed 
under.
  It is not a question of whether or not we find weapons of mass 
destruction or not. It is not a question of whether we are in a battle 
over the truth. All we need is the truth, the finding of weapons of 
mass destruction or not. Many made the decision to vote for the war 
because we were told that we were about to be under imminent attack. I 
think the American people are owed the ultimate determination how that 
decision was made.
  My other amendment had to do with providing local law enforcement 
assess to intelligence as needed and to get security clearances faster 
than they have been able to do so in the past. I hope we will be able 
to work together to ensure that happens so all of us who have local 
officials who need the information to perform their duties 
appropriately can assess this important intelligence to serve our 
communities. I look forward to this bill moving through the House, and 
working on these important issues.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Rule governing floor debate 
on H.R. 2417, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. 
I oppose this modified open Rule because it fails to make in order 
several amendments that improve this legislation and benefit the 
public.
  I proposed two amendments to H.R. 2417 that were not made in order. 
The first amendment called for the establishment of a ``National 
Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.'' This Commission 
was to be responsible for reviewing and assessing the administration's 
knowledge of the status of and threats posed by Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction program before America went to war. The need for and the 
benefits of this Commission are obvious. The administration declared 
war, without a declaration of war by the Congress, based upon the claim 
that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and that the 
United States was in immediate danger of being attacked by the Iraqi 
regime. Over the several weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, dozens of 
American and British soldiers lost their lives and many more suffered 
grave injuries. I had the honor of personally meeting many of our 
valiant, injured troops on visits to Bethesda Medical Facility and 
Walter Reed Army Hospital. Their courage and sacrifice was 
overwhelming.
  For many Americans, myself included, questions remain whether the 
deaths and injuries suffered by young Americans in Operation Iraqi 
Freedom were justified. To date, we have discovered no evidence of 
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Many Americans are left wondering 
if the justifications for waging war proffered by the administration 
were legitimate. That is why I proposed an amendment to H.R. 2417 
calling for the establishment of a National Commission on Weapons of 
Mass Destruction in Iraq. We must study the intelligence available to 
the administration when war with Iraq was commenced. Was Saddam Hussein 
producing weapons of mass destruction? Was the Iraqi regime capable of 
producing weapons of mass destruction? Did the Iraqi regime conceal 
their weapons of mass destruction after Operation Iraqi Freedom began? 
These questions, and many more, need answers. The Commission 
established under my amendment would have provided those answers.
  I support the amendment offered by my colleague from California, the 
Honorable Barbara Lee. Her amendment calls for a General Accounting 
Office report on the degree to which U.S. intelligence services shared 
information about weapons of mass destruction sites with the United 
Nations inspections teams searching for those weapons in Iraq. Ms. 
Lee's timely and important Amendment will provide many of the answers 
the American public seeks.
  I also proposed an amendment to H.R. 2417 to expand the security 
clearance for law enforcement agents, specified by State executives, so 
that classified and vital information related to homeland security can 
be shared. This amendment was also not made in order, but is vital to 
preparing or local communities to wage the war on terrorism. Protecting 
our homeland will be conducted by local law enforcement agencies and 
small communities across the country. It is vital for valuable, often 
classified information related to homeland security to be accessible to 
local law enforcement agents. My amendment would have expanded the 
security clearance for designated State and local officials and given 
them the ability to receive vital information.
  Mr. Speaker, I reiterate my opposition to this Rule. The Rule is too 
narrowly drafted and fails to make in order several valuable amendments 
offered by myself and my colleagues. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
opposing the narrowly-tailored Rule and in support of the amendment to 
H.R. 2417 offered by my colleague Ms. Barbara Lee.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I just wish to respond to my colleague by inviting the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) to come upstairs, as all 
Members are permitted, and see the material being worked on by the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and to read the mission of 
the committee in that regard. I think all Members would find that 
substantial work is being done, and I believe all Members of this body 
would be very proud of the efforts put forward by Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence in investigating the continuing concern that 
all of us in this body have, and I dare say the members of the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence are probably more directly 
concerned in light of the fact that we are there on a day-to-day basis.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California 
(Mrs. Tauscher).
  Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the rule for the 
Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2004. I commend the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) and the ranking member, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), who are doing valuable work 
by looking into the intelligence surrounding Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  By necessity and design, their work is classified. I feel strongly 
that their work must continue, but that this issue is beyond the scope 
of a single committee and is of such importance to our democracy that 
responsible public hearings by a select committee of users of 
intelligence are necessary. Members of relevant committees such as the 
Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on International 
Relations, who use intelligence to make policy decisions every day, 
provide valuable perspective that should be part of a broader review.
  As a member of the Committee on Armed Services, I am a user of 
intelligence, and the information I receive shapes the decisions I make 
for many men and women in uniform every day. Members of Congress and 
military planners need to have confidence that intelligence is 
objective and provides a sound basis for policy decisions.
  No decision is more grave than sending American fighting men and 
women into harm's way. We have a duty to be certain that public policy 
that we base these decisions on is credible and real. With American and 
British soldiers continuing to be killed at an alarming rate in Iraq, 
we have to be sure that our intelligence is providing a realistic view 
of the threats they have.
  Having open hearings by a select committee of policymakers who are 
customers of intelligence would not only allow Congress to reclaim its 
vital oversight role, but help convince the American people that their 
elected officials and President have the right tools to make the right 
decisions to protect them.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not about the purview of the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence. I deeply respect

[[Page 16187]]

the work that the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence does, but 
with all due respect, as a customer of that intelligence, the 
classified work that the committee does needs to remain classified, but 
after that work is declassified and moves to the National Security 
Agency, to the Pentagon, to the military planners, to the differing 
alphabet soups of agencies, who then take that classified work and 
begin to shape public policy with it, once that work becomes 
declassified and is starting to be moved into the public policy realm, 
I and others in relevant committees, like the Committee on Armed 
Services and the Committee on International Relations, need to 
understand what exactly is being done to that intelligence to either 
promote it or shape it to perhaps fit a preconceived decision by people 
in the administration or in other parts of the policy-making chain.
  I want to know if the intelligence work that is being done so ably by 
our intelligence people and the analysis done by them has been shaped 
in any way that would change my mind when I make these decisions. That 
is why I think we need a select committee. I urge my colleagues to vote 
no on the rule, but I support the work of the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), the ranking member.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would just point out to the gentlewoman 
from California (Mrs. Tauscher) that our committee is one of the users 
of intelligence. We are part of this community that uses intelligence 
information; and so it seems to me her point is right, and we are, 
therefore, the right committee to be assessing these questions and 
issues..
  Second, we have already agreed on a bipartisan basis to hold public 
hearings as appropriate, and the subject and timing of our first 
hearing is under active discussion right now. I am hopeful it will be 
held in July. I certainly agree that the public needs to know about 
some of these questions. We will discuss them in more detail in a 
moment. I do commend her for raising this issue. We are trying to 
address it responsibly in the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence. If we should fail, then it would be timely to set up a 
different committee, or a commission, or use another mechanism.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, we are in a very curious position in 
Congress today. We standing here debating a critical bill to provide 
funding for our intelligence services while we ask whether those 
intelligence services might have suffered a massive failure in 
assessing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
  I use the word ``might'' very deliberately because we do not know 
whether there was an intelligence failure. That is why we need an 
investigation, and I commend my colleague from California for pushing 
for an investigation within the committee because not only the public 
deserves to know, but we deserve to know equally.
  I am puzzled by many of my colleagues' lack of curiosity on this 
issue. The question of where Iraq's biological, chemical and nuclear 
weapons now may be is critical to the security of our Nation, and yet 
more than 90 days after the fall of Saddam Hussein, we have still not 
located one chemical weapon, biological weapon, or even their 
precursors production facilities or delivery systems.
  We went to war because of the imminent threat those weapons posed. We 
need to find those weapons if they are there; and if they are not 
there, we need to ask the question what caused this massive 
intelligence failure that was presented to Congress as an imminent 
threat to our national security? Our soldiers in Iraq are still engaged 
in combat operations. Saddam Hussein may still be out there, Osama bin 
Laden and al Qaeda are still on the loose, and we need to ensure 
through our Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that we have 
solid information as we move forward.
  Congress has to exercise its powers of oversight openly and honestly 
and look into these in a thorough way. That is what our constituents 
deserve. That is what the American people deserve. I look forward to 
working with the committee to make sure this happens in a timely 
fashion.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt), a distinguished member of the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, although I think this should be a totally open rule, as 
has been the tradition for dealing with this bill each year, I do think 
that the House should understand that the bill that is being brought to 
the House today is not controversial in the sense that it was agreed to 
unanimously within the committee. I would add to the remarks of my 
friend from Florida that this is, once again, a truly nonpartisan and 
bipartisan effort. It is appropriate that the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence should operate that way, both as the 
committee that provides oversight for intelligence activities and a 
committee that is, as the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) 
points out, a consumer of intelligence product.
  No doubt there will be a great deal of controversy to follow, a great 
deal of political discussion to follow in coming weeks and months about 
the intelligence that led up to the fighting and into the fighting in 
Iraq. In fact, I think this will be very good for the committee because 
it is an excellent case study of what intelligence should be, what 
intelligence should not be, how it can be used, and how it can be 
misused. I applaud the decision of the chairman and the ranking member 
to investigate the disturbing matter thoroughly, and I have no doubt 
that we will be able to investigate it thoroughly.

                              {time}  1630

  I applaud their decision to allow Members of the House to read the 
large volume of material that the Director of Central Intelligence has 
provided to the Congress. And our committee intends to issue a written 
report on its findings as promptly as possible.
  We have only begun to examine in detail the testimony, the 
statements, the published intelligence relating to Iraq's weapons 
programs and terrorist associations. It is early in our investigation, 
too early in the military's search within Iraq itself to come to any 
definitive conclusions or explanations of our failure so far to 
substantiate the prewar claims and expectations of what we would find 
there. But I have no doubt that the House will be satisfied with the 
thorough and critical look that the committee will take in this issue.
  There is no question that there is a lot of ambiguous information to 
search through. There is no doubt that there have been some exaggerated 
claims at least, and lives and deaths have hung on these things. We 
must take a thorough look at it. We will and I think the Members of the 
House will be satisfied with that look.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I just wanted to add one bit of remark with regard to some of the 
comment we have just heard which I thought was very helpful. We 
understand very clearly and the Intelligence Community understands very 
clearly that finding the weapons of mass destruction or what happened 
to them or whether there was faulty intelligence is a critical issue 
and that is indeed ongoing. As the gentleman from New Jersey just said, 
we are early in the game and we have literally thousands of pages for 
our staff and Members to work through.
  There is one thing that has not been said very clearly yet that does 
need to be said. I think we all share the desire to make as much of 
this known as possible to the public. We want the public to understand 
how good intelligence is

[[Page 16188]]

and how good it is not. Frankly, I want to do everything I can to make 
the American people aware as well as people overseas who might be 
watching what we have to say here, whether they are our friends or our 
enemies, that our intelligence is indeed formidable and when in fact we 
find a place where there is a gap in it, it will be repaired and fixed 
and that gap will no longer be there. I think that will be a comfort to 
everybody. That process is partially what this bill is about. But we 
are doing this as regard to the debate with the weapons of mass 
destruction in Iraq at a time when we desire transparency but we 
understand that transparency might include some people who are our 
enemies in the Iraq area where there is still a very dangerous and 
difficult operational climate as we are tragically reminded every day.
  I would ask that we understand that this is not just a question of 
going back and reviewing material at our leisure trying to come to some 
Solomon decision about whether it was good or bad or where we can fix 
it. This is matching information that we had which was the best we had 
at the time as far as we know with what we are beginning to find as we 
are able to talk to people who are captured in Iraq and other areas who 
are terrorists or are associated with them, document exploitation, 
those types of things and match that up. This process is a process that 
the committee has taken on. We are not just doing the prewar analysis. 
We are doing the what is going on now and where is it going on a daily 
basis.
  I hope Members can be assured, we will be in a continuous position to 
assess, both give a score card to the community and perhaps to come 
back to our colleagues here and say there are some other areas where we 
need to invest in the Intelligence Community because a small investment 
will yield a greater national security return before we are through. 
That is an ongoing process and charge of this committee and one we take 
seriously.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the rule.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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