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JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE CONFERENCE

Contents

And the House agree to the same.

Peter Hoekstra,

David Dreier,

Henry Hyde,

Duncan Hunter,

Jane Harman,

Robert Menendez,

Ike Skelton,

Managers on the Part of the House.

Susan M. Collins,

Joe Lieberman,

Trent Lott,

Richard J. Durbin,

Mike DeWine,

Pat Roberts,

John D. Rockefeller, IV,

George V. Voinovich,

John E. Sununu,

Bob Graham,

Frank R. Lautenberg,

Norm Coleman,

Managers on the Part of the Senate.

JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE CONFERENCE

The managers on the part of the House and the Senate at

the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on

the amendment of the House to the bill (S. 2845), to reform the

intelligence community and the intelligence and intelligence-

related activities of the United States Government, and for

other purposes, submit the following joint statement to the

House and the Senate in explanation of the effect of the action

agreed upon by the managers and recommended in the accompanying

conference report.

The House amendment struck all of the Senate bill after

the enacting clause and inserted a substitute text. The Senate

recedes from its disagreement to the amendment of the House

with an amendment that is a substitute for the Senate bill and

the House amendment.

A summary of the substitute agreed to in conference is

set forth below:

This legislation in part implements the recommendations

of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United

States (the ``9/11 Commission'') but also responds to other

studies and related commissions which focused on intelligence

reform for protecting the United State against acts of

terrorism. In July 2004, the 9/11 Commission released a

comprehensive report chronicling the circumstances leading up

to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Commission

made over forty recommendations to strengthen the United

States's ability to prevent future terrorist attacks. These

recommendations included reorganization of the U.S.

Intelligence Community by creating an empowered Director of

National Intelligence (DNI) and a National Counterterrorism

Center (NCTC). The recommendations also spanned a variety of

other areas such as foreign policy and transportation security.

This conference report makes a number of necessary changes in

government structure, law enforcement, and security

arrangements to protect the American people better.

Intelligence

DNI. A number of past studies have found that the current

Director of Central Intelligence lacks sufficient authority to

steward the Intelligence Community and transform it into an

agile network to fight terrorist networks. In response, and as

envisioned by the Senate bill and the House amendment, the

conference report creates a DNI appointed by the President,

confirmed by the Senate, and without the responsibility of

directing the Central Intelligence Agency. Also as envisioned

by the Senate bill and the House amendment, the DNI would head

the Intelligence Community; serve as the principal intelligence

adviser to the President; and oversee and direct the

implementation of the National Intelligence Program.

The conference report's formulation of the DNI's

authorities is a composite of the authorities in the Senate

bill and the House amendment. For example, relying on various

House and Senate provisions, the conference report gives the

DNI strong authority concerning the National Intelligence

Program, such as unambiguous authority to task collection and

analysis. The conference report does not expand authority under

which information is classified, which is pursuant to Executive

Order or other Presidential directive, but rather directs the

DNI to establish and implement guidelines for the intelligence

community for the purpose of such classification of

information. In addition, the Conferees recognize the need to

provide the DNI with enhanced personnel transfer flexibility in

order to maximize the Intelligence Community's functionality.

The Conferees encourage the DNI to consult with the Committees

of the Congress enumerated by this provision to establish

mutually agreeable procedures to fulfill the notice

requirements in this provision.

NCTC. The NCTC is an innovation designed to achieve

horizontal integration or ``matrix management'' for the

Executive Branch--meaning seamless coordination across

departmental lines against interdisciplinary problems

epitomized by terrorism. Once again fusing perspectives from

the Senate bill and the House amendment, the NCTC would be the

primary Executive Branch organization for counterterrorism

intelligence and strategic operational planning.

Security Clearances and FBI Restructuring. The conference

report rationalizes the Executive Branch's security clearance

process, which currently cannot satisfy the demand for

clearances in government and the private sector. Merging

visions articulated in the Senate bill and the House amendment,

the conference report seeks to bring greater efficiency, speed,

and interagency reciprocity to the security clearance process

while maintaining the highest standards. Finally, the

conference report contains a series of provisions, taken from

the Senate bill and the House amendment, to restructure and

buttress the FBI's intelligence capability.

Information Sharing. In order to help the government

better ``connect the dots,'' the conference report requires

that the President establish an Information Sharing Environment

to facilitate the sharing of terrorism information, through the

use of policy guidelines and technologies.

Other issues

Intelligence reorganization, while critical, is only one

part of the larger task of protecting the United States against

terrorism and combating the root causes of terrorism. Indeed,

the transnational threat of terrorism cuts across a disparate

array of issues: e.g., diplomacy, economic development,

immigration, and transportation. Thus the conference report

focuses not only on intelligence reform but also on a spectrum

of other reforms designed to protect Americans.

Foreign Relations. The conference report has a number of

provisions concerning relations between the United States and

key Middle Eastern and South Asian countries as well as to

improve the manner in which the United States conducts its

foreign relations. For example, the conference report attempts

to improve U.S. public diplomacy, educational and cultural

exchange programs, and foreign media outreach in order to build

good will and promote democracy and prosperity in the Middle

East. The conference report also includes provisions designed

to strengthen United States policy to develop and implement a

strategy to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries.

Transportation Security. The conference report blends

House and Senate language on similar concerns. The conference

report requires a national transportation security strategy,

improves the use of passenger watchlists, and otherwise

enhances the safety of aviation and other forms of travel.

Additionally, the conference report includes House provisions

relating to the use of biometric technology to regulate access

to secure areas of airports and Senate provisions relating to

air cargo and general aviation security.

Terrorist Travel and Effective Screening. These sections

include an array of measures to disrupt terrorist travel and

intercept terrorists. For instance, the conference report would

improve intelligence collection and analysis on terrorist

travel. Also, it would tighten security standards for key

identification documents including driver's licenses, birth

certificates, and social security numbers.

Border Protection, Immigration, and Visa Matters. These

provisions are designed to enhance security of U.S. borders and

the enforcement of border and immigration laws. For example,

the conference report blends House and Senate provisions that

call for an increase in the number of full-time border patrol

agents. The conference report also includes Senate provisions

that permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out a

pilot program to test advanced technologies that will improve

border security between ports of entry along the northern

border of the United States. And it includes a House provision

that increases detention bed space available for immigration

detention and removal.

Terrorism Prevention. These sections include measures to

provide additional enforcement tools against terrorist

activity, e.g. money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

The conference report adopts a House provision to amend the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act concerning ``lone wolf''

terrorists; a similar provision had previously passed the

Senate.

Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, and the Military in the War on

Terrorism. In these provisions, the conference report guides

the Executive Branch concerning the use of all elements of

national power--including diplomacy, military action,

intelligence, law enforcement, economic policy, foreign aid,

public diplomacy, and homeland defense--to win the war on

terrorism. The conference report adopts Senate language on

U.S.-Saudi relations and efforts to combat Islamist terrorism.

In addition, it includes House language on terrorist

sanctuaries and U.S. assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

National Preparedness. The conference report consolidates

several sections on the Incident Command System and

interoperable communications from the Senate bill and the House

amendment. It includes a Senate provision authorizing mutual

aid for first responders in the National Capital Region.

Civil liberties and privacy

The conference report creates a Privacy and Civil

Liberties Oversight Board that is charged with ensuring that

privacy and civil liberties concerns are appropriately

considered in the implementation of laws, regulations, and

policies of the government related to efforts to protect the

Nation against terrorism. The conference report also expresses

a sense of the Congress that a civil liberties and privacy

officer should be designated for each department and agency

that carries out law enforcement or anti-terrorism functions.

The task of protecting the United States against

terrorism poses a daunting challenge. This conference report is

a significant step in the right direction for America.