[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 50 (Monday, December 13, 2004)]
[Pages 2916-2918]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Congressional Leaders on the Proposed ``Intelligence Reform 
and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004''

December 6, 2004

Dear Leaders and Conferees:

    My most solemn duty is protecting the American people, and reforming 
and strengthening our Nation's intelligence capabilities will help 
ensure the safety of our country. I call on Congress to pass an 
intelligence reform bill this week. An overarching principle for these 
needed reforms has been to create a strong Director of National 
Intelligence with full budget authority while preserving the chain of 
command within departments and agencies. We are very close to a 
significant achievement that will better protect our country for 
generations to come, and now is the time to finish the job for the good 
of our national security. Therefore, I want to reiterate my views on 
some issues of concern to Members.

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    When I met with the Congressional Bipartisan Leadership at the White 
House on September 8, 2004, I stated that the country needed a strong 
Director of National Intelligence with full budget authority. At the 
same time, I have stated that we need a bill that respects the chain of 
command within departments and agencies, including the Department of 
Defense, so as to ensure that all of the war-fighters' needs will be 
met. As Commander-in-Chief, it is ultimately my responsibility to ensure 
that both of these goals are realized, and they are captured in the 
attached formulation.
    Accordingly, in developing implementing guidelines and regulations 
for this bill, it is my intention to ensure that the principles of unity 
of command and authority are fully protected. It remains essential to 
preserve in the heads of the executive departments the unity of 
authority over and accountability for the performance of those 
departments. In particular, as we continue to prosecute the global war 
on terrorism, the integrity of the military chain of command and the 
principle of battlefield unity of command must continue to be respected 
and in no way abrogated. These guidelines will also honor my commitment 
to provide the Director of National Intelligence full and meaningful 
budget authority over the National Intelligence Program. This is 
critical to make certain that the intelligence community is more 
effectively managed. The guidelines will also help ensure that the 
Director of National Intelligence has enhanced management authorities, 
including the ability to oversee and integrate all the foreign and 
domestic activities of the intelligence community, to achieve the unity 
of purpose needed to win the global war on terrorism.
    With regard to other provisions in the legislation, I want to 
congratulate the Conference for adopting important and time-sensitive 
law enforcement provisions that:
 <bullet>    Strengthen current laws to make certain we can arrest those 
            aiding terrorists, including those who have received 
            military-style training in terror camps.
 <bullet>    Increase our ability to target terrorism financing.
 <bullet>    Ensure that dangerous terrorists are lawfully detained 
            while awaiting trial.
 <bullet>    Help prevent attacks by shoulder-fired anti-aircraft 
            missiles, known as MANPADs, and weapons of mass destruction 
            by mandating appropriate penalties.
 <bullet>    Provide authority to help stop ``lone wolf'' terrorists.
 <bullet>    Expand our jurisdiction to prosecute those who seek weapons 
            of mass destruction.
 <bullet>    It is imperative that Congress act this week to guarantee 
            these vital tools become part of our arsenal immediately.
    I also believe the Conference took an important step in 
strengthening our immigration laws by, among other items, increasing the 
number of border patrol agents and detention beds. There were other 
measures proposed that were not incorporated into the bill. My positions 
on these provisions were detailed in a letter from the Office of 
Management and Budget to Conferees on October 17, 2004. However, these 
omissions from the final bill should not prevent the Congress from 
passing this historic legislation now. I look forward to working with 
the Congress early in the next session to address these other issues, 
including improving our asylum laws and standards for issuing driver's 
licenses.
    I appreciate all the work done to date by this Congress and the 
September 11th Commission. These are some of the most challenging, 
complicated, and important issues facing our government. The Leaders and 
Conferees deserve great credit for working together to protect the 
safety of the American people.
     Sincerely,
                                                George W. Bush

Note: The letter made available by the Office of the Press Secretary 
also included an attachment listing guidelines to ensure the effective 
implementation within the executive branch of the authorities granted to 
the Director of National Intelligence. An original was not available for 
verification of the content of this letter.

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