Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016
Floor Speech
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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.
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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