[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16840-16841]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  Mr. MERKLEY. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to 
executive session to consider Calendar No. 465, that the nomination be 
confirmed with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions 
be in order to the nomination; that any statements related to the 
nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately 
notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative 
session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I support the confirmation of the 
President's nominee to be the first inspector general of the 
intelligence community, Irvin Charles McCullough III.
  The position of Inspector General of the Intelligence Community--or 
ICIG--was created in the fiscal year 2010 Intelligence Authorization 
Act, after several years of effort to have the position enacted. The 
reason to have a Community-wide inspector general is similar to the 
reason to have a Director of National Intelligence.
  The ICIG is intended to review, and conduct oversight on, 
intelligence activities across the 16 agencies that make up the 
intelligence community, as well as the Office of the DNI, instead of 
having every agency--and its IG--operate within its own stovepipe.
  In recent years, the intelligence agencies have worked more closely 
together. This has improved performance and reduced duplication, but it 
has also made the oversight work of individual agency inspectors 
general more difficult.
  The Intelligence Committee saw there was a need to create an 
inspector general with authority and oversight of the entire 
intelligence community, and one who could look at issues that cut 
across individual agencies.
  That view was reinforced by the relative weakness of the inspector 
general position in the Office of the DNI that was authorized as part 
of the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.
  Thus, the committee pushed to have created the inspector general of 
the intelligence community, to be confirmed by the Senate and given the 
statutory authorities and independence of other Senate-confirmed 
inspectors general.

[[Page 16841]]


  Mr. McCullough is well-qualified to be this first ICIG. He has long 
experience conducting investigations both as an inspector general and a 
FBI agent. He is an attorney and is well-familiar with the intelligence 
community.
  Mr. McCullough currently serves as the deputy inspector general of 
the DNI's Office of the Inspector General. From 2003 to 2010, he was an 
assistant inspector general for the National Security Agency. He served 
from 2001-2003 as senior counsel for law enforcement and intelligence 
in the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury 
and was for 10 years in the Federal Bureau of Investigation as 
attorney, special agent and supervisory special agent.
  The Intelligence Committee received Mr. McCullough's nomination in 
August. After Mr. McCullough answered the committee's questionnaire and 
prehearing questions, we held a public hearing with him on September 
22. On October 4, the Intelligence Committee voted out Mr. McCullough's 
nomination on a rollcall vote of 15 to 0. His nomination was also 
considered in the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee 
and has moved forward by unanimous consent.
  This important post will now be filled, and Mr. McCullough is 
qualified and prepared to take on the responsibilities and authorities 
of the position.
  I support his confirmation.
  The nomination considered and confirmed is as follows:


            office of the director of national intelligence

       Irvin Charles McCullough III, of Maryland, to be Inspector 
     General of the Intelligence Community, Office of the Director 
     of National Intelligence.

                          ____________________