Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today, we are voting on the fiscal year 2017 Intelligence Authorization Act, which is the fourth major piece of legislation I have had the privilege of working on with Chairman Nunes and the membership of our committee.

I want to just return the compliment from the chairman. It is a great pleasure to work with him. One of the things I love about our committee is it is truly a refuge from a lot of the partisanship of this institution. To be able to grapple with some of the enormous challenges facing the country and to do so in a nonpartisan way is, I think, a real honor and privilege for all of us on the committee, and I thank the chairman for his leadership in making it so. He continues to be just an invaluable partner on the committee. Each bill we work on together proves anew what can be done when people work together constructively and in a nonpartisan manner to solve real problems.

Mr. Speaker, in this iteration of the bill, which the House first passed in the spring by an overwhelming 371-35 votes, we also had the privilege of working closely with our colleagues in the Senate, particularly Chairman Burr and Vice Chairman Feinstein. As always, they have proven to be invaluable partners. Although we still have one or two issues unresolved, 98 percent of this bill represents agreements forged by bipartisan and
bicameral behind-the-scenes efforts over the past few months.

We should be very proud of this bill, and I believe it is an even better bill than the one we passed in the spring. It preserves--and, in some cases, furthers--all of the priorities of our Members, including the initiatives of our Democratic Members. In particular, I want to highlight some of their contributions:

The bill includes Representative Himes' provision to improve the timeliness and fairness of prepublication review process throughout the IC.

It includes Representative Sewell's language on investment in Centers of Academic Excellence programs, helping to guarantee that a diverse array of students can take part in IC internships. It also includes her requirement to collect data to evaluate the IC's federally funded academic programs.

The bill includes Representative Carson's provision to assist public and private entities in their swiftly removing terrorist content online; his provision on the cooperation and deconfliction between the Departments of Homeland Security and State regarding countering violent extremism programs; and his requirement to have the committee receive information on the operational impacts of foreign investment in the United States.

Representative Speier's four provisions are included, which would standardize declassification photocopying fees across the IC to promote the increased availability of information and enhance transparency; her provision to expand access to graduate education programs at the Defense Intelligence Agency; her language on obtaining information on the mental health resilience programs that are available to IC civilians returning from tours in combat zones; and her provision to study reprisals taken against IC contractors who make disclosures that would be legally protected if made by IC employees.

The bill includes Representative Quigley's language to continue support to security services in Ukraine.

It includes Representative Swalwell's three provisions, including one to track foreign fighters, another to analyze the status of loan forgiveness and debt counseling programs within the IC, and a provision to better understand how the Departments of Homeland Security and Energy take advantage of the expertise resident at our national labs.

It includes Representative Murphy's three provisions to provide a report detailing cybersecurity threats to--or vulnerabilities in-- systems employed by seaports and transshipment hubs, including efforts to improve our preparedness and response to a cyber attack; it has language to improve intelligence reporting with respect to Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action; and it requires a report on security threats emanating from maritime smuggling routes and ways to better cooperate with other nations to mitigate these threats.

Let me also say that Patrick will be dearly missed when he leaves our committee at the end of this session. He has been a tremendously valuable member of the committee.

The IAA also furthers important privacy and transparency goals, including by fully authorizing the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The bill does not contain any legislative restrictions on the scope of the PCLOB's authority to review the impact of IC programs on the privacy and civil liberties of Americans and non-U.S. persons. Thanks to Senate provisions that we have incorporated, it also advances declassification efforts, potentially getting much more information to the public.

There are no GTMO transfer restrictions from the bill, and the legislative text adds important provisions that are aimed at countering Russia's destabilizing efforts, including those targeting elections.

The legislation accommodates and resolves the vast majority of the administration's objections, which were laid out earlier this year.

Critically, this IAA also continues to address the key strategic questions we must continue to ask now and in the next administration in Congress:

First, are we focusing too much on the threats of the day at the expense of the threats of tomorrow?

It is easy to get distracted by nonstop crises, and it is harder to remain focused on the long term, even when the future can be far more dangerous than the present.

We have spent significant resources on counterterrorism priorities in the Middle East and South Asia. We have to continue to focus on CT and the threat posed by ISIS and its followers, but we must not disregard the growing threat posed by Russia, whose global efforts at disruption must be checked, particularly against our allies and our alliances.

We must not turn away from threats posed by China, whose Naval adventurism, infiltration of the supply chain, and efforts to get around the CFIUS process in the United States--and to undermine data security more generally--challenge our security and business interests abroad and threaten our Asian partners.

Second, are we sufficiently protecting what we currently have, whether in space, at sea, or in the cyber realm?

Third, are we leveraging commercial products and services while at the same time making investments in revolutionary technologies that do not yet have commercial application?

Fourth, are we recruiting, training, and developing the most effective and diverse workforce as well as leveraging foreign intelligence relationships and building foreign partner capacity?

The U.S. has unquestionably the most advanced, capable, and reliable intelligence community in the world. This bill supports that workforce by identifying ways to promote travel, support language training, and increase diversity. It does this, in part, by expanding internship opportunities in the IC to students from diverse regions and backgrounds and allocates resources to building the capacity of our foreign partners. These are values we expect and demand from those partners, and they are central tenets of who we are as a country.

There are many unknowns about the incoming administration, particularly how it will utilize and interact with the IC. It is now more important than ever that we give the IC the tools it needs to keep us safe and provide the necessary oversight required to ensure that they act in a manner consistent with our values and at all times. That is why I am pleased that this year's IAA provides such critical oversight of the IC, ensuring our Nation is secure, privacy and civil liberties are safeguarded, and transparency and accountability are paramount.

I am proud to support the Intelligence Authorization Act, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. I urge the Senate to pass this bill and send the fiscal year `17 IAA to the President's desk or to continue to work with us to resolve any last differences before the end of the Congress.
I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Earlier this afternoon, we debated H.R. 3929, honoring the heroes of the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to our modern-day intelligence and special operations communities.

We honor them today to express our deepest gratitude for the contributions they made during World War II and its aftermath and our appreciation for the example they set for the present intelligence community and special operations heroes. They were part of America's Greatest Generation, one we will continue to honor, remember, and emulate. They faced a complex and dangerous world. They met those grave challenges on the desolate fields of Europe, the torrid seas of the Pacific, and in the shadows. Espionage and intelligence were critical to winning the war and to preserving the peace.

As we look forward to the future and to the dangerous world we inhabit today, we would do well to keep the examples set by that Greatest Generation in our minds. As they did, we should lead by example as much as by strength.

Thankfully, our intelligence community is the most capable and committed in the world to our ideals and to the rule of law. Every day, they seek to ensure that we are given the information necessary to guard and defend ourselves, our allies, and our partners. We remain grateful always for their hard work and dedication.

Again, my thanks to Chairman Nunes, to the members of HPSCI, particularly those who are leaving the committee, to the Senate for a remarkable bipartisan and bicameral effort, and to our excellent committee staff.

I want to thank the many public servants who have led the IC with whom we have had the chance to work over the past several years. In particular, I want to extend my thanks to those retiring or leaving their roles at the IC at the end of this administration, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and his deputy, Stephanie O'Sullivan; CIA Director John Brennan and his deputy, David Cohen; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis Leslie Ireland, who today is retiring after 31 years of Federal service; and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Marcel Lettre.

Thank you as well to the incredibly capable leaders of the other elements of the IC who may remain beyond January 20th. Of course, most importantly, thank you to all the men and women of the intelligence community who silently and courageously protect our country day and night through their crucial work. We appreciate everything they do, and they have our continued support.

I also want to thank not only the HPSCI members, but the entire staff, including Michael Bahar, Tim Bergreen, Carly Blake, Robert Minehart, Linda Cohen, Amanda Rogers Thorpe, Wells Bennett, Rheanne Wirkkala, Thomas Eager, Patrick Boland, Kristin Jepson, Brandon Smith, and Kimberlee Kerr for all their valuable service.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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