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Bush Signs Intelligence Reform Bill By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law today legislation that will enact some of the most far-reaching changes to the U.S. intelligence community in decades (see GSN, Dec. 9). The bill, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, implements two of the key recommendations put forth this summer by the Sept. 11 commission — the creation of a national director to oversee the intelligence community and the creation of a national counterterrorism center. “Those charged with protecting America must have the best possible intelligence information, and that information must be closely integrated to form the clearest possible picture of the threats to our country,” Bush said this morning at the signing ceremony. “Under this new law, our vast intelligence enterprise will become more unified, coordinated and effective. It will enable us to better do our duty, which is to protect the American people.” Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) and top committee Democrat Joseph Lieberman (Conn.) today praised Bush’s action. Collins and Lieberman were the two main Senate negotiators in the effort to resolve the Senate version of the legislation with that passed by the House of Representatives to reach a final bill. “We are so proud that the president signed into law today the Collins-Lieberman Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. It took a lot of hard work to get to this day and to deliver real and comprehensive reform legislation to the American people,” they said in a joint statement. The Senate must still confirm Bush’s as-yet undeclared choice for the position. As envisioned by the bill, the director will serve as the principal intelligence adviser to the president and will be responsible for managing the collection and analysis of U.S. intelligence. The director will be separate from the CIA director and has the authority to establish national intelligence centers to focus on issues such as regional concerns. The position also has a degree of budgetary and personnel authority over many of the intelligence agencies currently located in several departments, such as Defense, Energy and State. The director will be responsible for determining the overall intelligence budget, and will direct intelligence appropriations through department heads to the various agencies. The director will also have the authority to transfer in a single fiscal year either $150 million or less than 5 percent of an agency’s total funding. Concerning personnel, the national intelligence director will “recommend” to the president nominees for CIA director, and will have “the right to concur” in the appointment of most other intelligence agency chiefs. The director also “must be consulted” for recommendations for the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the deputy assistant Coast Guard commandant for intelligence. The director will not have not have the authority, though, to fire agency chiefs. In addition, the director will have the authority to transfer up to 100 personnel from intelligence agencies to any newly created national intelligence center and to transfer up to 150 personnel for up to two years to the office of the national intelligence director. The director also was given the authority to transfer an unlimited amount of personnel among intelligence agencies as long as such transfers do not last longer than two years. The bill also contains a provision, intended to ensure that the national intelligence director does not disrupt the military chain of command, that calls upon the president to “issue guidelines to ensure effective implementation of the authorities provided to the DNI [director of national intelligence] in a manner that respects and does not abrogate the statutory responsibilities of the … heads of executive branch departments.” The provision, which was the focus of debate in the negotiations on a final bill, was called for by House Republicans concerned that the national intelligence director would damage the ability of military commanders to receive battlefield intelligence. Serving under the national intelligence director will be a principal deputy, who will also be appointed by the president on the recommendation of the director and confirmed by the Senate. The national intelligence director also has the authority to appoint as many as four additional deputies. In addition, the director’s office will contain a general counsel, civil liberties protection officer, science and technology director, national counterintelligence executive and an inspector general. The national intelligence director is also responsible for appointing personnel within his office to ensure that intelligence analysts conduct alternative analyses, to ensure objectivity and to prevent politicialization of intelligence. The bill creates a National Counterterrorism Center, within the director’s office, responsible for “strategic operational planning” of counterterrorism missions. The center’s director, who will be confirmed by the Senate, will report to the national intelligence director on budgetary and intelligence issues and to the president on the planning and progress of joint counterterrorism missions. In addition, the bill requires the president to establish within the next 18 months a National Counterproliferation Center. The president may choose not to do so, though, if it is determined that such a center “does not materially improve the government’s ability to halt” WMD proliferation. The bill also creates a Joint Intelligence Community Council, chaired by the national intelligence director and consisting of the heads of the Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury departments. The purpose of the council is to advise the director on “budget and other matters” and to ensure the “timely execution” of intelligence programs. The intelligence reform provisions within the bill go into effect no later than six months after its enactment. President George W. Bush has 180 days after the effective date to submit an implementation plan to Congress. In addition to the intelligence reform provisions, the bill also contains a number of provisions related to transportation security, illegal immigration, counterterrorism and foreign policy. Outside intelligence experts were skeptical this week as to how effective the bill will be in implementing intelligence reform. Calling the measure “largely ceremonial,” Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, said yesterday that the bill is missing several key details, such as defining the relative authority of the various intelligence agency chiefs. One “basic question” that is unanswered, he said, is who will be responsible for the daily intelligence brief to the president — the national intelligence director or the CIA director. James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation said the bill does not address other reform needs, such as an improved intelligence community work force. “This is the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end,” he said. Who Will Serve?Speculation has already begun as to who will be chosen as the first national intelligence director. Among the names that have been cited in the media are CIA Director Porter Goss, National Security Agency Director Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden and former Sept. 11 commission Chairman Thomas Kean. The bill says the at least one of either the national or deputy intelligence directors “should be an active duty officer, or at least have by training or experience an appreciation of military intelligence activities and requirements.” The selection of the first national intelligence director could be the most important appointment Bush makes in his tenure as president, Carafano said. “The first person really has to be the right person,” he said, as the first director will set the tone for how the position operates.
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