MILNET:

MILNET Brief
Senate Intelligence Proposals, post 9/11 Commission, Working Document, 12/08/2004

"We didn't pay attention to turf or agencies or boxes" but rather to "what are the national security threats that face this country today,"

- Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 8/23/2004. ¹

Introduction

In what has been described as the most dramatic changes to the Intelligence Community since the National Security Act of 1947, the Republican members of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have proposed landmark legislation that is sure to find controversy in both the intelligence professionals as well as their Congressional colleagues.

This brief is intended to be a working document, that is, it will be updated from time-to-time as new information becomes available. Today, it is the most comprehensive report on the status of the Senate responses to the 9/11 Commission Final Report ⁹ and contains links to all the publicly available relevant documents. For a thorough look at the historical record for commissions and proposed changes to the Intelligence Community, see the full MILNET report on Proposed Changes to the U.S. Intelligence Community, also updated regularly.

Latest Activity

September 16, 2004: In response to a letter from MILNET's Chief Editor, Diane Feinstein (or more likely her staff) simply reiterated the "Director of National Intelligence" legislation she cosponsored in 2003 citing that :

"I believe that the current structure of the intelligence community is inadequate to meet the challenges of the War on Terror: the community is fragmented, there is a lack of coordination between agencies, and there is no effective leadership. Our country needs coordination among the myriad agencies that gather intelligence.

Creation of a Director of National Intelligence was the lead recommendation of the Joint Congressional Inquiry in the September 11 attacks, and to create a more efficient and effective intelligence community, I have introduced S.190, the Intelligence Community Leadership Act of 2003. This legislation will create the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to manage the intelligence community."

The brief response did not address any of the real issues in any new intelligence legislation, such as how to address DoD concerns about priorities and budget for traditional DoD led intelligence activitities or the more controversial issues of the 9/11 Commission recommendations. This is hardly unreasonable, as it appears S.190 was proposed well before the 9/11 Commission published its recommendations, in fact the legislation (co-sponsored by John D. Rockefeller) was mentioned in a press release in July of 2003 a year before the 9/11 Commission findings. In any case, some of the proposed changes and indeed perhaps some of the language from S.190 is part of S.2774 the huge and complete implementation bill proposed by the bi-partisan group led by McCain and Lieberman.

September 15, 2004: Leadership of the House and Senate pledged to at least implement the NID and NCTC portions of the 9/11 recommendations before the October recess, however, stopping short of moving military agencies under the auspices of the new NID, allowing the director to have authority over the National Foreign Intelligence Program budget, the proposal essentially laid out by the President. Clearly they hope to work on more of the proposals in the next Congress after the elections, saving the most controversial portions of the 9/11 Commission proposals until after the November elections.

September 8, 2004: John McCain and Joe Lieberman led a small group of Senators to propose legislation (S.2774 PDF 479K), "9/11 Commission Report Implementation Act of 2004" which purports to implement nearly all of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

The legislation includes title 1, "National Intelligence Authority Act of 2004" which sets up the "National Intelligence Authority" (NIA). The NIA consists of the National Intelligence Director, the usual suspect intelligence agencies (listed in the summary and text on MILNET), a General Counsel to the NIA, and any other agencies the President or additional law may set up, as well as the NIC and NCTC. The NID cannot be the head of the CIA.

Under the provisions of the bill, the NID has a Deputy, a Deputy for Foreign Intelligence (who also serves as the Director of the CIA), a Deputy for Defense Intelligence (also serves as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence) and a Deputy for Homeland Intelligence (also serves either as the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection or the Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence of the FBI).

The Bill also sets up a National Intelligence Council, an Inspector General, a Comptroller, an "Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties", an "Officer for Privacy", the "Chief Information Officer" and a number of unspecified staff positions.

The Bill implements the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and makes the NID responsible for its operation.

The Bill also defines the National Intelligence Council (NIC) which can consist NID appointed members from government or the civilian sector, whose responsibilties are to produce National Intelligence Estimates including alternative views, evaluate community wide intelligence collection and production, and other tasks set out by the NID.

The Bill defines in some detail how the NIC will set out characteristics of their findings to ensure reliability and confidence in their output using confidence factors, as well as spelling out assumptions and judgements. The NIC may contract out intelligence analysis as needed and will have a staff. The NIC will be "readily available" to policymakers and "other appropriate individuals". The heads of the intelligence agencies will provide support to the NIC.

The Bill also terminates several positions in the CIA and absolves one or more no longer necessary programs such as the Joint Military Intelligence Program and cautions the new NID, Director of the CIA and the Secretary of Defense to perserve the capabilities of the U.S. intelligence community during the establishment of the new NIA.

The House version HR-5024 will be introduced by Shays and Maloney. The Shay site provides an excellent summary of the long bill.

Media Coverage

McCain and Lieberman were enthusiastic as the heads of the 9/11 Commission endorsed the legislation and took shots at President Bush's Executive order as being "insufficient". ¹⁵

Several online sites reported on the legislation, however few mainline newspapers or media outlets appeared to notice, however were quick to blast GOP Senators and their legislation two weeks before.

August 23, 2004

Previously, Senator Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Committee released a press statement which details the proposed National Security Protection Act:

Renames the Intelligence Community to be called the National Intelligence Service to indicate unity of effort and purpose.
Creates a National Counter-terrorism Center under the NID. [NCTC - MILNET]
Creates a National Intelligence Director (NID) with complete budget and personnel authority, including hire and fire authority, and direct control over the national intelligence collection agencies currently residing in the Department of Defense (DoD).
Proposes a major realignment of the major elements of our national intelligence organization into a rational organization, overseen by four Assistant National Intelligence Directors (ANIDs) for

Collection;
Analysis and Production;
Research, Development and Acquisition;
and Military Support.

Removes the National Security Agency (NSA) and National Geospatial-intelligence Agency (NGA) from DoD and puts them under the direct control of the ANID for Collection.
Establishes the CIA’s Directorate of Operations and the DIA’s Defense Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Service as independent agencies under the direct control of the ANID for Collection. The CIA’s Directorate of Operations would be renamed the National Clandestine Service.
Gives the ANID for Collection direct line control over the FBI’s Counter-intelligence / Counter-terrorism units, but they would continue to operate within the FBI for administrative and support purposes, and would still be subject to Attorney General guidelines.
Realigns the remaining two directorates of the CIA and establishes them as independent agencies under the NID. The CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence would become the Office of National Assessments under the ANID for Analysis and Production. The Directorate of Science and Technology would become the Office of Technical Support under the ANID for Research, Development and Acquisition.
Puts the DoD’s National Reconnaissance Office under the ANID for Research, Development and Acquisition.
Gives the NID complete budget and personnel authority over the intelligence units of Treasury, Energy, Homeland Security, State Department, and the remaining analytical elements of the DIA, but they would continue to report to their home agencies on a day to day basis to maintain their analytical independence.
“The three major directorates that currently make up the CIA (Operations, Intelligence, and Science and Technology) will retain their same function, they will just be realigned under the NID to make the National Intelligence Service a more rational organization,” Senator Roberts said.⁵

On August 24, 2004, a number of Senators were appointed by the Senate Leadership to a bipartisan Senate working group that will examine how best to implement the 9/11 Commission's recommendations that deal with reform of the Senate's oversight of intelligence and homeland security Appointed were:

Susan Collins (R-Mn), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Harry Reid (D-NV), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), John Warner (R-VA), Carl Levin (D-MI), Trent Lott (R-MS), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Charles Schumer (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Patty Murray (D-WA). ⁶

The legislation is reputed to differ dramatically from both the desires of the White House, and the Diane Feinstein sponsored bill known as the The Intelligence Community Leadership Act, S.190, which proposed a Director of National Intelligence -- DNI, separate from a newly created Director of the Central Intelligence Agency -- DCIA.⁷

Media Coverage

The following summarizes recent responses reported by the media, including interviews with principals in the Intelligence Community.

Quotes from various interviewers have elicited some comments on what the provisions new legislation will contain:

The National Intelligence Director will be given the authority to "really lead" the 15 intelligence agencies including hiring and firing and budget control.
Will control all U.S. intelligence activities including those in the Department of Defense
Will propose a Deputy responsible for military tactical requirements, possibly a 4 star General in the DoD, or the General will report dotted line to the this Deputy.

The Columbia Daily Tribune quotes former CIA Director George Tenet who resigned in July, stating that the plan "This proposal reflects a dangerous misunderstanding of the business of intelligence". The article also quotes Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld on ."We do need to make significant adjustments in how we collect, communicate and dispense information," Rumsfeld told an audience of about 1,300 troops at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas (8/23/2004). But he added: "We have to be careful about it. ... You don't want, in the middle of the war, to go tearing up the pea patch.". The Tribune article also quotes John Ullyot, a spokesman for Sen John Warner chairman of the Armed Services Committee as saying the Senator "would have concerns about any plan that would transfer critical, well-functioning intelligence assets away from the Department of Defense during wartime." ³

CNN's article quotes Tenet as saying, ""A proposal such as this would damage U.S. national security rather than improve it. It would result in the demoralization of a proud and extremely capable agency and less security for the American people." The need to deal with "ill-conceived schemes like this" could divert the U.S. intelligence community from putting its focus on "pre-election terrorist threats..." Roberts' proposal, Tenet said, "is yet another episode in the mad rush to rearrange wiring diagrams in an attempt to be seen as doing something. It is time for someone to say, 'stop!' Someone needs to stand up for all the good that is done by the men and women of CIA. It is time for someone to slam the brakes on before the politics of the moment drives the security of the American people off a cliff." ⁴

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, was quick to respond to Robert's announcement, "It's a mistake to begin with a partisan bill no matter what is in it."

According to CNN, "Roberts would put the CIA's three main directorates -- Operations, which runs intelligence collection and covert actions; Intelligence, which analyzes intelligence reports; and Science and Technology -- into three new, separate and renamed agencies, each reporting to a separate assistant national intelligence director. It also would remove three of the largest intelligence agencies from the Pentagon.

Although the measure would essentially dismantle the CIA, Roberts said in a paper he released: "We are not abolishing the CIA. We are reordering and renaming its three major elements." ¹

The Washington Times printed that, "The White House was noncommittal. "We look forward to reviewing the details of Senator Roberts' proposal," said White House spokesman Brian Besanceney. "We have taken nothing off the table." ¹¹

The A.P. article used by most of the major news media outlets also added,

"Equally drastic changes were proposed at the Pentagon.
The nation's largest spy agency, the National Security Agency, which intercepts electronic signals around the world, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes satellite pictures, would be removed from the Pentagon and put under direct control of an assistant national intelligence director for collection.

The Defense Intelligence Agency's human intelligence collection activity would become a separate agency, like the former CIA directorate of operations.

Both would report to the same assistant national intelligence director for collection. This official also would have direct line control over the FBI's counterintelligence and counterterrorism units, although they would continue to operate within the FBI administratively and would still be subject to attorney general guidelines.

The Pentagon's huge National Reconnaissance Office, which operates spy satellites, would work under an assistant national intelligence director for Research, Development and Acquisition. That same assistant would also run the CIA's former directorate of science and technology as an independent agency called the Office of Technical Support." ¹²

As of 9/10/2004, the 9/11 National Security Protection Act draft has not yet been made public.

Sources:

GOP Senators Propose Sweeping Intelligence Reform, CNN Online, 8/23/2004
Intelligence Bill May Pit Congress Against White House, Daily Times of Pakistan, 8/26/2004
Senator Defends Plan For Intelligence Reform, Columbia Daily Tribune, 8/24/2004
Former CIA Chief Blasts Intelligence Reform Plan, CNN Online, 8/24/2004
Senator Roberts Calls for Real Intelligence Reform with 9/11 National Security Protection Act, 8/23/2004 (MILNET Mirror)
COLLINS APPOINTED TO TASK FORCE CHARGED WITH REFORMING SENATE OVERSIGHT OF INTELLIGENCE & HOMELAND SECURITY, Senate Governmental Afffairs Committee press release, 8/24/2004.
The Intelligence Community Leadership Act, S.190, The Congressional Record, 1/18/2003 (MILNET Mirror)
Proposed Changes to U.S. Intelligence Community, MILNET, 8/24/2004
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States (The 9/11 Commission), June 23, 2004 (MILNET Mirror)
U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Hearings on 9/11 Commission Recommendations, MILNET, August 2004.
Roberts Airs 'Bold' Plan for Intelligence, Washington Times/A.P., 8/23/2004
Senate Republicans Weight Dismantling CIA, ABCNews Online/A.P., 8/23/2004
Implications for the Department of Defense and Military Operations of Proposals to Reorganize the United States Intelligence Community, Senate Armed Services Committee Hearings, August 16, 2004
Bi Partisan Group Introduces 9/11 Legislation, Detroit Free Press, 9/08/2004
Shays, Maloney to Introduce House Version of 9/11 Commission Recommendations Legislation, House Press Release, 9/7/2004, (MILNET Mirror)
Bipartisan Push On To Adopt 9/11 Panel's Recommendations, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/8/2004
Senate Approves Sweeping Intelligence Reform, The Associated Press, MSNBC Online, 12/08/2004

- Copyright ©, 2004, Michael G. Crawford for MILNET