Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 - Conference Report
INTELLIGENCE REFORM AND TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT OF 2004--CONFERENCE REPORT -- (Senate - December 08, 2004)
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the Senate will proceed to consideration of the conference report to accompany S. 2845 which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the House to the bill (S. 2845) to reform the intelligence community and the intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, and for other purposes, having met, have agreed that the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House and agree to the same with an amendment, and the House agree to the same, signed by a majority of the conferees on the part of both Houses.
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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to express my support for S. 2845, the intelligence reform bill.
I first want to commend the 9/11 families who have worked so tirelessly to ensure that necessary reforms were implemented through the formation of the 9/11 Commission and the enactment of this bill.
I believe this bill is an important first step toward needed intelligence reform. As we are all aware, intelligence is the key to
keeping America safe and winning the global war on terrorism. I think that there are many provisions of this bill which will improve U.S. intelligence. It creates a Director of National Intelligence who has personnel and budget authority; establishes an Information Sharing Environment to facilitate the sharing of terrorism information among all appropriate Federal, State, local, tribal and private sector entities; provides for training and education to meet linguistic requirements; and emphasizes the use of open intelligence, a resource I believe we have overlooked recently to our detriment.
I am also pleased that this bill establishes a National Counterproliferation Center since I believe the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the potential for terrorists and rogue states to obtain these weapons are the greatest threats facing us today.
In addition, I commend the House and Senate for providing for a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board within the Executive Office of the President that would ensure that privacy and civil liberties concerns are appropriately considered in the implementation of laws, regulations, and executive branch policies related to efforts to protect the Nation against terrorism. While Americans are more willing to give up some of their privacy after 9/11, necessary intrusions must be carefully balanced against the rights of U.S. citizens and I believe the Board will help maintain the balance.
Again, this bill is simply a first step. The United States remains vulnerable in many areas. I do not believe the bill does enough to provide for transportation security such as for ports, public transportation and railroads. In addition, it does not address other asymmetrical threats such as food safety. Two days ago Secretary of Health and Human Services Thompson noted how easy it would be to tamper with and poison our food supply.
Finally, I would like to express my disappointment with the administration's and Republican congressional leadership's participation in this undertaking. The administration originally did not want a 9/11 Commission and its support of this bill was lukewarm at best. The tragedy of September 11 made it clear that our Nation was not as secure as it could be and changes needed to be made. It is the duty of the administration to make those changes as quickly as possible. September 11 was over 3 years ago and we are just now enacting the first changes. The process certainly could have proceeded more quicky if the administration had been more actively engaged throughout the process.
But we have a bill which is a good first step. I support this bill and look forward to working with my colleagues on future
reforms.
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