Press Releases
Intel Ranking Member Schiff Statement on Floor in Support of 2018 and 2019 Intelligence Authorization Act
Washington,
July 12, 2018
Washington, DC – 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 bipartisan 2018 and 2019 Intelligence Authorization Act. During his speech, Schiff stated: “This bill that advances our national security, reinforces the principle of congressional oversight, and honors our values as a nation. I urge the support of the House and look forward to considering amendments that will make a good bill even better.” The full speech can be found here, or read below: As delivered: I join the Chairman in urging support for the combined 2018 and 2019 Intelligence Authorization Act, which has been named in honor of Matthew Young Pollard, a Senate Intelligence Committee staffer who recently passed away, leaving behind a young son and bereaved colleagues both in the Senate and here in the House. For well over a year now, considerable attention has been focused on the House Intelligence Committee and the profound disagreements that we have had about the Russia investigation. Those differences remain and the American people should know that my Democratic colleagues on the Intelligence Committee and I continue the important work of investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Despite our disagreements over Russia with the Majority, however, I have consistently and publicly maintained that the Committee must seek to cordon off our disagreements over the investigation and continue on with our other work on as bipartisan a basis as possible. We owe the tens of thousands of men and women in the intelligence community nothing less – not only because they put themselves at personal risk every day, but also because their work is so important to the country that it demands shared responsibility and oversight of the Congress. The Intelligence Committee has a history of producing bipartisan bills, even under difficult political circumstances. I am pleased that our staffs worked to reach a mutually acceptable final text and to weed out provisions that would have made it impossible to move forward jointly. Much of the Committee’s oversight work as reflected in the bill is classified, but we can discuss some of the 2018-2019 IAA’s elements openly, including the fact that the bill:
There are many other provisions in the bill that will build on the work of past years and move us further along technical and other pathways to meet new challenges and those still on the horizon. This bill that advances our national security, reinforces the principle of congressional oversight, and honors our values as a nation. I urge the support of the House and look forward to considering amendments that will make a good bill even better. ###
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