allhands.archive.0410 - Message 49
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From	Subject	Date
"Liles, Val" lilesv	House Armed Services Unanimously Approves 9/11 Intel Bill	Mon, 4 Oct 2004 08:56:05 -0400
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES DUNCAN HUNTER, CALIFORNIA CHAIRMAN PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: Contact: Carrie Sloan or Harald Stavenas (202) 225-2539 September 30, 2004 Committee Unanimously Approves 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act H.R. 10 Maintains Intelligence Lifeline for Our Troops WASHINGTON, DC-The House Armed Services Committee met yesterday afternoon to consider H.R. 10, the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act. The bill would amend the National Security Act of 1947, the law that contains the authorities and responsibilities of the Director of Central Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense. OLE_LINK2 The full committee unanimously approved the bill which now goes to the House floor for consideration. While there are a number of small differences between H.R. 10 and the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, one key concern the committee has is to maintain the ability of the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide the best intelligence directly to our troops. "As we learned during the course of our recent 9/11 hearings you can't simply draw an arbitrary line between tactical military intelligence and strategic intelligence," Hunter said. "While that may make sense in Washington, it doesn't work on today's battlefield. We won't serve the families of 9/11 victims by depriving our men and women in uniform of the direct intelligence lifeline that currently exists between our troops, spyplanes and satellites. "In fact, the Commission's Vice-Chairman, Lee Hamilton, acknowledged the importance of this point when he stated during one of our hearings: 'I think the committee has helped us in understanding the importance of the tactical military intelligence. And I think some of our recommendations can be refined.' And also: 'I think the questions that are being asked here are helpful to us and causes me to think that we need to refine some of our thinking in this very important area, and we will try to do that.'" The Department of Defense operates the majority of the national intelligence capability, and uses those assets to support troops engaged in combat and to support the Director of Central Intelligence. The 9/11 Commission recommended that a new National Intelligence Director (NID) would have unfettered authority to transfer funds among national intelligence agencies, including major transfers from defense agencies to the Central Intelligence Agency. If that happens, without consent of the DoD, funds could be taken away from soldiers who are the direct recipients of the intelligence. To address this, H.R. 10 adopts a middle ground and limits the amount that could be transferred by the NID to $100 million. The bill provides the NID with a formal role in the apportionment process, but ensures that budget execution is retained by the operating departments and agencies. "The core of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations was that the turf battles and lack of information sharing between the FBI and CIA prior to 9/11 can't be allowed to repeat itself," Hunter stated. "The commission did not suggest that Department of Defense management of intelligence agencies contributed to 9/11. That said, there are issues that need to be addressed in the national intelligence structure, but we must preserve the intelligence lifeline to our troops. Our bill does that." "As members of the House Armed Services Committee, we are charged with the welfare and needs of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. As we move toward a new national intelligence infrastructure, we must ensure we don't break those parts of the system that already work well and are critical to our men and women in uniform," Hunter said. Major provisions of H.R. 10, which are in line with the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, are: * Creating a National Intelligence Director separate from the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Running all the aspects of national intelligence and advising the President on intelligence is a full time job, just as running the C.I.A. is a full time job. * Creating a National Counterterrorism Center within the office of the National Intelligence Director to integrate all federal government activities related to counterterrorism. The Director will be the person in charge of assessing the inputs of the various elements of the U.S. intelligence apparatus in order to prevent terrorist attacks. * Providing the National Intelligence Director with the authority and responsibility to develop common information technology standards and to ensure maximum access to intelligence across the intelligence community. The bill was approved 58-0 last evening. It is also being considered by other committees with jurisdiction and will be considered on the House floor next week. ### http://armedservices.house.gov/

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