Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years and 2020
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Along the wall in the upper lobby of the CIA headquarters building is a large picture of the head and torch of the Statue of Liberty accompanied by the following words: ``We are the Nation's first line of defense. We accomplish what others cannot accomplish and go where others cannot go.''
These two sentences distill the essence of America's intelligence community and the quiet sense of mission that tens of thousands of our fellow citizens bring to their jobs every day.
H.R. 3494, the Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020, is our contribution to the work of the IC.
This is a bipartisan bill, reported unanimously out of the Intelligence Committee and embodying the collective efforts of Democratic and Republican members.
Though H.R. 3494 contains many new initiatives authored during my chairmanship, it also preserves provisions developed during Ranking Member Nunes' tenure as chairman as well.
Despite disagreements over the Russia investigation, the committee has come together to support our intelligence community.
HPSCI oversees highly sensitive, highly classified activities, and we collaborate with the IC to ensure that it has the resources and authorities necessary to collect vital intelligence. That won't work, however, unless the committee trusts the IC elements it oversees, and those same elements trust the committee.
At the same time, HPSCI must ensure that legal and policy constraints are vigorously enforced. That requires us to maintain both a professional distance and a healthy skepticism about the activities we oversee. When warranted, the committee must impose additional checks and limitations, at times over intelligence community objections.
It is a delicate balance, which HPSCI strikes through use of many different oversight tools. The most important by far is our annual Intelligence Authorization Act.
H.R. 3494 gets the balance right. It authorizes funding for the IC at roughly 1.4 percent above the President's budget request for the coming year. It prioritizes the IC's collection and analytic capabilities against China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, while sustaining critical intelligence capabilities that support counterterrorism and counterproliferation.
The bill also ensures that the men and women of the IC have what they need to collect and analyze the intelligence that policymakers require.
At the same time, H.R. 3494 ensures close oversight by Congress, rejecting the funding of legacy IC programs with overseas contingency operation resources, or OCO, funding; and requiring, for the first time, the submission to the intelligence committees of detailed information on unfunded IC programs.
Another provision authored by Representative Welch calls for more information in the IC's budget for counterterrorism matters to be released to the public consistent with the protection of national security. Still another authorizes the Public Interest Declassification Board, which plays a vital role in ensuring that historical documents about IC programs are declassified appropriately.
The legislation is especially strong in three other areas. The first has to do with foreign malign activities, including those by Russia. The bill calls for extensive IC reporting and creates new notification requirements regarding covert or overt efforts by foreign governments to undermine trusted institutions or to interfere in the democratic process, our own or those of other nations.
This bill also strongly supports the IC workforce. H.R. 3494 obliges the IC elements to offer their employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave on top of the unpaid leave already guaranteed to them by law. Other language ensures that the families of CIA personnel who are killed or injured as a result of wars, hostile acts, or other incidents can be appropriately compensated.
The bill also bolsters the IC's ability to recruit, hire, retain, and promote a workforce that represents the diversity of the Nation that it serves.
Lastly, technology. Many have sounded alarms about the rise of so- called ``deep fake'' algorithms and the transition in our country and elsewhere to a fifth-generation telecommunications network. To help the IC address both challenges, H.R. 3494 instructs the DNI to hold competitions and to award prizes for cutting-edge research into deep fake and 5G technologies.
H.R. 3494 is not perfect; it is the result of negotiation and compromise. I am pleased that, despite our public differences, we have once again been able to put those aside to focus on the important work of overseeing the intelligence community. The result is a strong, bipartisan bill, which I am proud to support.
Mr. Chair, let me conclude by thanking Ranking Member Nunes, my committee colleagues, and the entire HPSCI staff for their collaborative efforts.
Mr. Chair, I urge all Members of the House to join me in voting for H.R. 3494.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington State (Mr. Heck).
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell).
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, it is now a pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney).
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to say only a few words of recognition before concluding my remarks on the Intelligence Authorization Act.
First, my HPSCI colleagues and I remember HPSCI's Damon Nelson and SSCI's Matthew Pollard, two dedicated staffers and public servants who passed away last year. The legislation is named in their honor.
I also express my tremendous thanks and support to the men and women of the intelligence community. They strive quietly and tirelessly every day, and their work helps keep the Nation safe.
I greatly appreciate the work of Ranking Member Nunes, as well as my other HPSCI colleagues.
And I would be remiss if I did not recognize these members of my staff who worked tirelessly together with their minority colleagues to produce this bipartisan legislation: Wells Bennett, Timothy Bergreen, Maher Bitar, Carly Blake, Patrick Boland, Kris Breaux, Linda Cohen, Thomas Eager, Will Evans, Patrick Fallon, Daniel Goldman, Abby Grace, Nicolas Mitchell, Daniel Noble, Diana Pilipenko, Lucian Sikorskyj, Conrad Stosz, Kathy Suber, Amanda Rogers Thorpe, Aaron Thurman, Rheanne Wirkkala, Raffaela Wakeman, and William Wu.
One more personnel note: I want to recognize the exemplary contributions of Brandon Smith, who has been a member of HPSCI's staff for 18 years. Brandon has announced that he will be leaving HPSCI soon. We are deeply grateful for his work and his longstanding and continuing service to the Nation.
Let me conclude by urging all Members of the House to join me in voting for H.R. 3494 and in supporting the measure as it proceeds to the Senate and, after that, to the President's desk.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment, although I am not opposed.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chair, the gentleman from Texas' proposal would allow the congressional committees with jurisdiction over public health matters the opportunity to receive a briefing about the effects of emerging and infectious diseases and pandemics on national security and the international political and economic system, along with the Intelligence Committee and Armed Services Committee.
It is critical that Congress be well-informed on the posture of the United States and, indeed, the rest of the world to address a public health crisis that might arise in the face of a particularly rapidly spreading, devastating disease. It is crucial that committees that oversee public health responses understand how prepared we may be to address such a crisis.
I support this amendment, and I believe it will be helpful to our colleagues on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to receive this briefing and information from the DNI, along with the Intelligence, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Appropriations Committees that are already included in the bill text.
For that reason, I support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I was going to request the chairman yield me 1 minute of time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, this amendment clarifies section 602 of the bill dealing with domestic terrorism. This section would require the FBI, DHS, and the National Counterterrorism Center to produce an annual report and joint strategic intelligence assessment on domestic terrorism.
Chairman Thompson's amendment would add safeguards to protect the civil liberties and privacy of individuals whose information would be contained in the report and mandate compliance with the Data Quality Act.
It also would require DHS to disclose information on the allocation of personnel working domestic terrorism matters, enhancing oversight in this area.
I would like to recognize Chairman Thompson for his work that the House Homeland Security Committee has done on the issue of domestic terrorism. Together we will continue our lines of effort to address this significant threat.
Once again, Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his work, and I urge support for the amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I rise in strong support of the amendment offered by my colleagues from Maryland and Texas which mirrors language passed in the Senate's intelligence authorization bill last month. This provision would bring together government entities and the energy sector in a pilot program for purposes of evaluating and strengthening industrial control systems and related critical infrastructure elements against security vulnerabilities and exploits.
The cyber threats faced by our critical infrastructure remain a persistent national security concern, as the former ranking member of our committee, the distinguished Mr. Ruppersberger, knows all too well. DNI Coats likewise warned in the most recent unclassified Worldwide Threat Assessment about the capabilities of our adversaries to hold U.S. critical infrastructure at risk.
This measure is another line of effort toward securing that infrastructure against outside cyberattacks and disruptions, and I am very proud to support the work of my colleague and friend.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment and claim time in opposition, therefore.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, may I make a parliamentary inquiry?
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Mr. SCHIFF. Did the Chair offer time in opposition to the amendment?
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I am sorry. I couldn't hear the ruling of the Chair.
The gentleman asked for unanimous consent.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, well, if my colleagues in the minority--I don't know how much time they have both on the amendment and on the time in opposition to the amendment--but if they can yield to my colleague to make sure that he has time for his remarks out of both of their time, I think we can resolve this.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, the gentleman offering the amendment has how much time? Because they claimed both the time on the amendment--
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Mr. SCHIFF. So no one claimed the time in opposition?
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Mr. SCHIFF. Okay. So there should be 5 minutes.
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Mr. SCHIFF. If I could, Madam Chair, through the Chair to my colleague, I appreciate that. We will take you up on that. And on the next amendment that we have time, I will yield to my colleague, and your colleague may yield to you, if you have further comments you want to make on this issue.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman through the Chair.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I rise to offer this amendment as the designee of Representative Green of Texas and Representative Connolly.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I am happy to support the amendment offered by Representative Green and Representative Connolly, which would require the Director of National Intelligence to make publicly available its annual report that aggregates demographic data and other information regarding the diversity and inclusion efforts within the intelligence community.
The amendment would expand the elements that the DNI must report on to include grade-level attrition and promotion rates, as well as validated metrics, such as New Inclusion Quotient Index scores.
The IQ initiative is designed to help employees and managers foster diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This amendment is important as we strive to significantly improve hiring and retention in the IC such that the workforce mirrors the American population. It is imperative that we have better visibility into the demographics of our current workforce to legislate well- informed change.
Again, I thank my colleagues for their work, and I am happy to support the amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I strongly support the amendment. This amendment expresses the sense of Congress that racial profiling of Americans of Chinese descent is contrary to the values of the United States and reinforces flawed narratives perpetuated by the People's Republic of China that ethnically Chinese individuals worldwide have a duty to support the People's Republic of China.
Moreover, the amendment reaffirms that the United States Government has a duty to warn and protect all Americans, including those of Chinese descent, from intelligence operations executed by the People's Republic of China.
Finally, the amendment requires the ODNI Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency, in coordination with civil liberties and privacy officers throughout the intelligence community, to submit a report to the congressional intelligence committees. This report would review how the intelligence community policies that govern counterintelligence operations against China impact the civil liberties of Americans of Chinese descent who are the targets of Chinese espionage and provide recommendations to preserve these liberties and privacy interests.
Mr. Case's important amendment reaffirms that Americans of all backgrounds deserve equal protection under the law and reminds our intelligence community of its duty to protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons.
Madam Chair, again, I thank my colleague for his work, and I strongly support the amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
This amendment directs the intelligence community to expand upon its work in identifying and reporting foreign malign influence activity by establishing a center responsible for integrating all intelligence pertaining to foreign efforts to undermine our democratic institutions.
The committee and the intelligence community has seen all too clearly over the last 3 years that the malign influence threats to U.S. sovereignty and security are emerging as a new normal, all the while becoming more sophisticated and diverse.
Identifying and defending against these threats, particularly those committed by strategic adversaries of the U.S., requires a dedicated whole-of-intelligence-community effort in order to fully understand the nature of the threat and identify outstanding intelligence gaps that need to be filled.
In establishing an interagency Foreign Threat Response Center, this amendment lays out a framework for accomplishing this challenging task.
I thank my colleague for his work. I appreciate Mr. Kennedy's commitment to this area very much, and I support the amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
This straightforward amendment adds the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis to the DNI's consultation requirement for its report on possible exploitation of virtual currencies by terrorist actors.
It also requires the report's dissemination to State and local law enforcement, consistent with the protection of classified information.
Ensuring that relevant counterterrorism information is distributed, as appropriate, to State and local law enforcement is a key priority and a major function of the Department of Homeland Security. Adding these entities as recipients of this report through the DHS fusion center mechanism improves the bill.
I want to encourage all my colleagues to support the amendment, as well as the underlying bill. I thank my colleague for her work.
Miss RICE of New York. Madam Chair, I want to thank Chairman Schiff and Ranking Member Nunes for supporting the amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
This amendment expresses a sense of Congress that conveys our firm opposition to any use of facial recognition technology to suppress criticism or dissent, as well as our opposition to the U.S. Government sale or transfer of facial recognition technology to countries using this technology to suppress human rights.
Critically, the amendment also acknowledges the IC's unique responsibility to develop robust policies and procedures that prevent the abuse of this technology.
To ensure that the intelligence community is held accountable, the amendment requires the submission of a comprehensive report analyzing any use of facial recognition technology by the IC, and the associated implications for privacy and civil liberties, especially among marginalized communities.
Ms. Jayapal's amendment requires the intelligence community to establish clear policies and procedures, enhance transparency, and increase oversight concerning the applications of these new capabilities.
Her amendment lays the groundwork for a thoughtful U.S. response to the emergence of divisive and disruptive technologies and how they would fit into existing civil liberties frameworks.
Again, I want to thank my colleague for her work. I am pleased to support Ms. Jayapal's amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I rise in strong support of this amendment offered by my colleagues from Florida and New York, who have both been leaders in this body focused on national security challenges posed by deepfake technologies.
We in the Intelligence Committee held a hearing on this very topic last month, and the rate at which these capabilities are evolving is almost as breathtaking as what they can produce, high-quality video and other types of media that convincingly portray individuals saying or doing things that never happened.
The potential for a foreign adversary to undermine an election, foment chaos, or create a national security crisis with a sophisticated digital forgery means that we need to ensure the intelligence community is fully considering the wide-ranging implications of deepfakes, including the capacity of foreign entities and adversaries to weaponize machine-generated media.
This report will also give us a detailed picture about how the intelligence community is coordinating efforts, activities, and research surrounding this emerging technology and if there are lingering gaps in resources or assignments of responsibility, since we need to be clear-eyed about how disruptive and devastating a well-timed deep fake could be during an election or a tense diplomatic standoff.
I want to thank my colleague for her work on this amendment, and I am very proud to support it.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, as the designee of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski), I rise to offer an amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I rise to support this amendment, which adds an additional requirement to section 502, a report on the repression of ethnic Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region of the People's Republic of China.
The human rights crisis underway in Xinjiang is staggering in scale. Open-source analysis based on extensive reviews of satellite imagery and Chinese Government documents has concluded that as many as 1.5 million Muslims could be held in internment camps by the Chinese Government.
Despite this body of evidence, the executive branch has rebuffed attempts to clearly describe the scope and scale of this crisis.
H.R. 3494 calls for a comprehensive U.S. Government assessment that addresses the number of persons detained, a description of forced labor practices in the camps, and an assessment of the surveillance, detection, and control methods associated with China's new high-tech policing model.
Mr. Malinowski's amendment adds an additional requirement for the intelligence community to assess and identify the technological and financial support provided by U.S.-based companies to the Chinese Government's repressive operations in Xinjiang.
In light of the alarming public reports detailing cooperation between prominent U.S. companies and foreign companies aiding and abetting the Chinese Communist Party's surveillance state, this amendment could not be timelier.
Madam Chair, I thank my colleagues, particularly Mr. Malinowski for his tireless work to support human rights.
Madam Chair, I am happy to support the amendment. I urge support for the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, as the designee of the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley), I rise to offer an amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, this amendment clarifies section 602 of the bill dealing with domestic terrorism.
Section 602 would require the FBI, DHS, and the National Counterterrorism Center to produce an annual report and strategic intelligence assessment on domestic terrorism. Ms. Pressley's amendment would require more information regarding any training or resources on domestic terrorism provided by the FBI, DHS, and National Counterterrorism Center to assist Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies.
This would enhance oversight and transparency in this area and give us a better sense of how domestic terrorism training has been provided to law enforcement throughout the United States.
Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her work, and I urge our colleagues to support the amendment and the underlying bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, as the designee of the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, the Intelligence Committee has invested considerable time and focus the last 3 years to study the painful lessons of foreign interference in our democratic system.
Ms. Slotkin's amendment will enhance the work of the committee by compelling the Director of National Intelligence to identify barriers that prevent the intelligence community from fully understanding the scope and impact of these threats.
Our adversaries are committed to employing a whole-of-government approach to execute their plan to disrupt our democratic system. In order to defeat these efforts, we must understand the scope of the threat. We must enlist our intelligence community to identify the scope of and the means by which our adversaries are attempting to achieve their goal.
This amendment sets forth a framework by which the DNI will report to Congress on these threats and identify whether there are gaps in the IC's authorities that hinder its ability to find, assess, and enable action on foreign influence campaigns.
Madam Chair, I believe this is an important amendment. I encourage my colleagues to support it, as well as the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chairwoman, I rise as the designee of Ms. Slotkin to offer her second amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chairwoman, we are all too familiar with the influence operations perpetrated by the Russian Government during the 2016 U.S. election.
As the IC articulated in its January 2017 intelligence community assessment, those operations were merely the most recent in a long history of efforts to undermine the liberal democratic order. We must remain vigilant and fully informed about the operations executed by the Government of Russia to influence and undermine our democratic system.
To that end, this amendment requires an annual report from the Director of National Intelligence containing information about the influence operations and campaigns in the U.S. by the Russian Federation. I support the amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same.
I urge support for the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me.
This amendment requires a report on a number of civil liberties questions regarding the Terrorist Screening Database. We need to structure our counterterrorism programs by thinking about not only what we can do and what is constitutional to do, but what we should be doing so that we get the maximum security benefit along with the maximum privacy.
Our aim is a healthy equilibrium between security and privacy. With that in mind, I support my colleague's amendment which will assist the Intelligence Committee with its oversight and inform the public about how the privacy security balance is being struck.
I want to thank Ms. Omar for her work, and I encourage my colleagues to support her amendment.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Securing the safe release of Americans held abroad is a top and urgent priority. Congress can play a role in keeping this issue at the forefront of public consciousness.
With that in mind, I salute my colleague for all of his efforts. I thank Mr. Crow for drafting this sense of Congress that keeps the spotlight on this important issue.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment and the underlying bill.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Ms. Omar) having assumed the chair, Mrs. Murphy, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3494) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.
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