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 Today, the FY 2016 Intelligence Authorization bill passed the full House of Representatives by a vote of 247– 178. 

The annual Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) is one of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee’s most critical oversight tools. It ensures our Intelligence Community has the resources it needs to protect our country, while allowing the Committee to review all intelligence programs and make corrections as necessary. The bill which passed today provides overall funding at about 1% below the President’s FY16 budget request, but about 7% above the FY15 enacted budget level.  This bill makes cuts to less effective programs, adds money to underfunded programs, and requires that intelligence agencies regularly inform the Committee of efforts to increase efficiencies, ensuring that allocated funds are spent responsibly.

Although the bill is largely sound and the bipartisan work product of committee members, Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) was forced to oppose final passage as a result of two remaining flaws in the bill: First, while the IAA makes appropriate cuts to some programs and adds wisely to others, it does so using short-term Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding to evade the Budget Control Act (BCA) caps.  Second, the IAA places new restrictions on closing the prison in Guantanamo Bay, an issue Schiff tried to address on the Floor through an amendment sponsored with Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) to strip the provisions from the final bill.  That amendment was defeated by a vote of 176 – 246. 

After final passage of the IAA, Ranking Member Schiff stated:  “At a time when our nation faces a diverse set of global threats  against Americans and U.S. interests at home and abroad, it is critical that we give our IC the resources, authorities and capabilities it needs to protect our nation. At the same time, we must continue to conduct the most rigorous oversight.  Thanks in large part to the leadership of Chairman Nunes, and to the dedication of Members on both sides, the development of this bill has been overwhelmingly bipartisan, and many specific Democratic initiatives have been included, both in Committee and on the House Floor. 

 “However, while the overall bill is solid and one I normally would support, several issues remain unresolved, causing me to vote against the bill.  It was my hope that we would have been able to strip restrictions on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison and preclude the use of OCO funds to augment the artificial budget caps set for national security, but unfortunately, we were not able to do so.  I will continue to work hard to fix these issues as this bill progresses — the American people deserve nothing less.”

Some highlights of the final bill include:

·         Sustains critical capabilities to fight terrorism and counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

·         Continued support of our overhead architecture by increasing funding to the most critical space; investing in space protection and resiliency; and preserving investments in the most cutting edge technologies;

·         Promoting partner service capabilities;

·         Providing resources to safeguard against losing valuable SIGINT collection while enhancing oversight of these and other alternative sources of intelligence;

·         Oversight of CIA’s reorganization process and enhancements to HUMINT capabilities;

·         Funds initiatives to thwart cyberattacks and insider threats;

·         Oversight of Defense Special Operations Forces activities worldwide; and

·         Requires a report every 60 days on foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq.

Committee Democratic Members offered substantive amendments during the markup earlier this month which helped make the IAA bill better. Specifically: 

·         Ms. Sewell introduced an amendment to ensure enhanced support for diversity programs by directing additional efforts to expand programs to rural universities;

·         Mr. Carson authored provisions that clarify FBI resource allocation against domestic and foreign threats, and FBI and DNI roles in countering violent extremism;

·         Ms. Speier authored language to provide greater oversight of the IC’s liaison relationships;

·         Mr. Quigley added a provision regarding support to Ukraine; and

·         Mr. Swalwell authored language to clarify that DOE National Labs can work with state and local government recipients of homeland security grants. 

To read Mr. Schiff’s opening speech in support of the IAA click here, or click here to watch the speech.   To read Mr. Schiff’s remarks in support of his amendment to strip the language related to restrictions on closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay click here, or click here to watch the speech. Finally, to read to Minority Views on the FY16 IAA which was passed out of Committee, please click here.