Press Releases

Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, spoke on the House Floor in support of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. A fact sheet from the HPSCI Minority Staff can be found online here. Below are his remarks (as delivered):

“First, I want to begin by thanking Chairman Nunes.  Mr. Chairman, it’s been a great pleasure to work with you. I greatly appreciate your dedication to the responsibilities we have and the bipartisan way you have the run this committee, and the professional way you and your staff have conducted the business of the committee.  It’s been a honor to work with you, and I’m greatly appreciative of everything you’ve done to bring this bill forward. I also want to express my gratitude, too, to Senators Burr and Feinstein for their effort at producing this bipartisan, bicameral work product.

“Earlier this year, the House passed its version of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.  After the Senate’s Intelligence Committee advanced its version out of Committee, we worked together to produce the bill before us today.  It is the result of careful negotiations, and of a bipartisan and bicameral commitment to produce a strong intelligence bill for the sake of the country and our allies.

“I did not vote for the intelligence authorization when it came before the House in June, but I am proud to support it today because many of the underlying issues were resolved or significantly improved.

“This annual bill, like those that came before it, funds, equips, and sets priorities for the U.S. Intelligence Community, which is critical in the world we inhabit today.  The recent Paris attacks drive home just how vigilant we need to be, and the bill before us provides urgent resources for the fight against ISIS and Al Qaeda. 

“At the same time, we must never let our focus on any one threat or terror group distract us from the other challenges we face, like those posed by Iran, North Korea, Russia and China. This bill strikes the right balance by providing the necessary means to counter wide-ranging threats we face from state and non-state actors, particularly in cyberspace, outer space and the undersea environment. The bill also takes critical steps to shore up our counter-intelligence capabilities—this is of particular significance in light of the devastating OPM breach.

“Additionally, the intelligence authorization continues to be the single most important means by which Congress conducts oversight of the Intelligence Community.  We must support the IC, but we also have to rigorously oversee it, and make sure that what it does in our name comports with our values.

“The bill therefore prioritizes and provides detailed guidance, strict authorizations and precise limitations on the activities of the Intelligence Community.  It also ‘fences’ funds to ensure that throughout the year, congressional guidance is strictly followed.

“Some of the other highlights of the bill include:

·         Emphasizing collection to monitor and ensure Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. This is critical.

·         Funding our most important space programs, investing in space protection and resiliency, preserving investments in cutting-edge technologies, and enhancing oversight of contracting and procurement practices. I am particularly pleased where this revised bill ended up with respect to our space programs.

·         Promoting enhancements to our foreign partner capabilities, crucial to multiplying the reach and impact of our own intelligence efforts.

·         Enhancing Human Intelligence capabilities, which is often the key to understanding and predicting global events.

·         Greatly intensifying oversight of Defense Special Operations Forces activities worldwide.

“The revised bill also continues to incorporate the excellent provisions championed by the Democratic Members of the House Intelligence Committee, as well as Republicans. 

“In particular:

·         Mr. Himes’ effort to enhance the quality of metrics we use to enable more thorough oversight.

·         Ms. Sewell’s provisions to enhance diversity within the IC.

·         Mr. Carson’s provisions to better understand FBI resource allocation against domestic and foreign threats, and the role of FBI and DNI in countering violent extremism, particularly in minors.

·         Ms. Speier’s provision to provide greater human rights oversight of the IC’s relationships with certain foreign partners.

·         Mr. Quigley’s provision regarding intelligence support to Ukraine. And,

·         Mr. Swalwell’s provision to ensure that DOE National Labs can work with state and local government recipients of homeland security grants.

“As I said earlier, I was not able to support the earlier version of this bill; but I am proud to support this version, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. 

“This version corrects the misguided over-reliance on short-term Overseas Contingency Operations funding to evade Budget Control Act caps at the expense of our domestic programs.

“This bill still contains unwelcome restrictions in my view on the closure of our facility at Guantanamo Bay, but it modifies them to mirror those provisions which passed in the National Defense Authorization Act, and which the President recently signed into law.  To the extent there are any intelligence funds which could be used to close the prison, these IAA provisions would subject them to the same restrictions as govern the spending of defense funds in the NDAA.”