Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in support of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015.

This bill provides the resources and support the intelligence community needs to accomplish their mission while enhancing oversight in several important respects. I want to commend the bipartisan leadership of Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger on this bill. I congratulate them on, again, advancing an Intelligence Authorization Act. I also want to acknowledge my colleague from Nevada, Dr. Heck, for his work with me on the Technical and Tactical Subcommittee. Chairman Heck did a fabulous job supporting investments in technology and capacity that will pay dividends in years to come.

In addition to funding our intelligence priority, the bill includes important new provisions to improve greater oversight of the NSA and other IC elements. It creates an independent inspector general within the NSA who will be fully empowered to investigate abuse, waste, and fraud. The bill also requires an annual report to the Intelligence Committees on violations of law and executive order, including Executive Order 12333. This provision fixes a blind spot under current law and improves the Intelligence Committee's capacity for oversight.

While I support the bill, I was disappointed that an amendment I proposed with my colleague Walter Jones was not made in order. This amendment would have required an annual public report on the total number of civilian and combatant casualties caused by drone strikes. By publicly reporting on the use of drones, we would provide additional accountability and transparency, helping to ensure the legitimacy of the actions that we take overseas. The report would also provide a counterpoint to the inflated estimates of civilian casualties frequently seen in the news, in part due to active efforts of our enemies to mislead.

I plan to continue working with my colleagues on the committee to provide greater transparency, but this is a very simple method of doing so. In sum, it would simply require that there be an annual accounting of how many combatants are killed and how many noncombatants are killed. It would also have required that the administration or the DNI define those terms so we understand who is being defined as a combatant or noncombatant.

The President has set a high standard for the use of drones, that they not be used unless there is a near certainty there will be no civilian casualties. This is a way of holding us accountable to meet that very high standard. It is also, I think, all the more important when we consider that, while we may be the first Nation to use drones in this capacity, we will not be the last, and the standard that we set or fail to set will be one that may be emulated by others around the world.

I support this bill. I wish we had the opportunity on the floor to vote on this amendment, but I look forward to working with the committee in the years that follow to incorporate this provision and others to improve transparency and accountability.

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