113th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 113-7
_______________________________________________________________________
R E P O R T
of the
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
UNITED STATES SENATE
covering the period
JANUARY 5, 2011
to
JANUARY 3, 2013
March 22, 2013.--Ordered to be printed
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California, Chairman
SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia, Vice Chairman
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
Virginia JAMES RISCH, Idaho
RON WYDEN, Oregon DANIEL COATS, Indiana
BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland MARCO RUBIO, Florida
MARK UDALL, Colorado SUSAN COLLINS, Maine
MARK WARNER, Virginia TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
ANGUS KING, Maine
Harry Reid, Nevada, Ex Officio Member
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, Ex Officio Member
Carl Levin, Michigan, Ex Officio Member
James Inhofe, Oklahoma, Ex Officio Member
David Grannis, Staff Director
Martha Scott Poindexter, Minority Staff Director
Kathleen P. McGhee, Chief Clerk
During the period covered by this report, the composition of the Select
Committee on Intelligence was as follows:
DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California, Chairman
SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia, Vice Chairman
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
Virginia RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
RON WYDEN, Oregon JAMES RISCH, Idaho
BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland DANIEL COATS, Indiana
BILL NELSON, Florida ROY BLUNT, Missouri
KENT CONRAD, North Dakota MARCO RUBIO, Florida
MARK UDALL, Colorado
MARK WARNER, Virginia
Harry Reid, Nevada, Ex Officio Member
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, Ex Officio Member
Carl Levin, Michigan, Ex Officio Member
John McCain, Arizona, Ex Officio Member
David Grannis, Staff Director
Martha Scott Poindexter, Minority Staff Director
Kathleen P. McGhee, Chief Clerk
PREFACE
The Select Committee on Intelligence submits to the Senate
this report on its activities from January 5, 2011, to January
3, 2013. This report also includes references to activities
underway at the conclusion of the 112th Congress that the
Committee expects to continue into the future.
Under the provisions of Senate Resolution 400 of the 94th
Congress, the Committee is charged with the responsibility of
carrying out oversight of the programs and activities of the
Intelligence Community of the United States. Due to the need to
protect sources and methods used by the Intelligence Community
to protect our nation's security, most of the Committee's
oversight work is conducted in secret and cannot be discussed
publicly. Nevertheless, the Select Committee on Intelligence
has submitted activities reports on a biennial basis since 1977
in order to provide as much information as possible to the
American public about its intelligence oversight activities. We
submit this report to the Senate in continuation of that
practice.
We also thank all of the members of the Committee in the
112th Congress. In particular, we would like to thank five
Senators who played important roles in the oversight of the
Intelligence Community who have completed their service with
the Committee. Senator Snowe served on the Committee beginning
in the 108th Congress in 2003 and completed her service on the
Committee during the 112th Congress when she retired from the
U.S. Senate. Senator Conrad served on the Committee during the
112th Congress after which he also retired from the Senate.
Senator Nelson served on the Committee starting with the 110th
Congress in 2007 through the 112th Congress. Senator Blunt
served on the Committee during the 112th Congress. Senator
McCain served as an ex officio member of the Committee while he
was Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee
during the 110th, 111th, and 112th Congresses. Their unique
insights and perspectives contributed greatly to the
Committee's oversight work and their strong support for the
Intelligence Community has helped protect our nation's
security. For that, we are grateful.
We also thank all the Committee's staff during the 112th
Congress whose diligence and professionalism have enabled the
Committee to fulfill its vital legislative and oversight
responsibilities.
Dianne Feinstein,
Chairman.
Saxby Chambliss,
Vice Chairman.
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Preface.......................................................... III
I. Introduction.....................................................1
II. Legislation......................................................2
A. Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011..... 2
B. Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012..... 3
C. Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013..... 4
D. Reauthorization of Title VII of FISA.................... 5
E. GSenate Resolution (S. Res. 86) Recognizing the Defense
Intelligence Agency on its 50th Anniversary.............. 6
F. Other Legislation....................................... 6
III. Oversight Activities.............................................7
A. Hearings................................................ 7
1. Worldwide Threat.................................... 7
2. Afghanistan/Pakistan................................ 8
3. Iran................................................ 9
4. Iraq................................................ 9
5. GUnauthorized Disclosure of Classified Information
to the Media (``Leaks'')............................... 10
6. CIA Operation that Killed Usama bin Ladin........... 10
7. Oversight of Intelligence Community Counterterrorism
Efforts................................................ 10
8. Cybersecurity....................................... 11
9. Covert action....................................... 11
10. Counterproliferation................................ 12
11. Implementation of FISA Authorities.................. 12
B. Inquiries and Reviews................................... 13
1. Study of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation
Program................................................ 13
2. GCommittee Review of Intelligence Issues Related to
the September 11, 2012, Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi,
Libya.................................................. 14
C. Intelligence Community Issues........................... 15
1. Response to Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified
Information............................................ 15
2. Information Sharing................................. 15
3. Strategic Plan...................................... 16
4. GRole of the Intelligence Community in the United
States Export Control Regime........................... 16
5. Core Contractors.................................... 17
6. GComptroller General Access to Intelligence
Community Information.................................. 17
7. Cyber Analysis...................................... 18
8. Analysis on North Korea............................. 18
9. Intelligence Advance Research Projects Activity..... 18
10. Intelligence Community Information Technology
Enterprise............................................. 19
11. Space Launch........................................ 19
12. GDefense Clandestine Service and Defense
Intelligence Agency Vision 2020........................ 19
13. Analysis............................................ 20
14. Committee Review of Arab Spring Analysis and
Production............................................. 20
15. Foreign Language Capabilities....................... 20
16. Education and Training.............................. 21
17. Counterintelligence................................. 21
18. Accounting Standards and Auditability............... 21
19. Improper Payments................................... 22
D. Audits.................................................. 22
1. Insider Threat Detection Capabilities................ 22
2. Unifying Intelligence Strategies..................... 22
3. GDepartment of Homeland Security's Office of
Intelligence and Analysis.............................. 23
4. Intelligence Community Data Centers.................. 23
5. GCompensation of Federally Funded Research and
Development Center Executives.......................... 23
E. Technical Advisory Group Reports........................ 23
1. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity..... 23
2. China................................................ 24
IV. Nominations.....................................................24
A. GStephanie O'Sullivan, Principal Deputy Director of
National Intelligence.................................... 24
B. GLisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General, National
Security Division........................................ 25
C. David H. Petraeus, Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency................................................... 26
D. Matthew Olsen, Director of the National Counterterrorism
Center................................................... 26
E. GIrvin Charles McCullough, III, Inspector General for
the Intelligence Community............................... 27
V. Support to the Senate...........................................28
VI. Appendix........................................................28
A. Summary of Committee Actions............................ 28
1. Number of meetings................................... 28
2. Bills and resolutions originated by the Committee.... 28
3. Bills referred to the Committee...................... 29
4. Committee publications............................... 29
VII. Additional Views................................................30
1. Additional Views of Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall 30
113th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 113-7
======================================================================
COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES
_______
March 22, 2013.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mrs. Feinstein, from the Select Committee on Intelligence, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
I. INTRODUCTION
The activities of the Committee during the 112th Congress
ranged from passage of necessary legislation on intelligence
matters to the continuation of many oversight activities and
efforts begun during the 111th Congress.
As summarized in part II of this report, the Committee's
legislative accomplishments in the 112th Congress included the
enactment of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2011, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012,
and the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.
The Committee has now helped to enact four consecutive
intelligence authorization bills after a lapse in the enactment
of intelligence authorization bills for fiscal years 2006
through 2009. The Committee also helped enact an extension of
Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
to preserve the important intelligence collection authorities
that are vital to the protection of our national security.
A major focus of the Committee's oversight agenda is the
review of existing intelligence programs and proposed
legislation to ensure that U.S. person privacy rights and civil
liberties are not compromised during the collection of
intelligence information. However, most of the Committee's
oversight activities and efforts are, of necessity, done in
secret in order to protect sources and methods vital to our
nation's security. During the course of the 112th Congress, the
Committee held numerous hearings, briefings, and meetings on a
broad range of activities and programs performed by the
seventeen elements of the Intelligence Community. Examples of
these oversight activities include: the examination of
intelligence support to U.S. military operations in Afghanistan
and Iraq; the continued study of the threats posed by Iran; a
review of the successful raid against Usama bin Ladin in
Abbottabad, Pakistan; consideration of legislative proposals
designed to counter the unauthorized disclosure of classified
information to the media; and sustained concern about the
cybersecurity threat.
During the 112th Congress, the Committee completed its
study begun in 2009 of the Central Intelligence Agency's
detention and interrogation program that was in operation from
2001 to 2009, and adopted a report, with minority views, that
is currently being reviewed by the Executive Branch. The
Committee also began its review of the September 11, 2012,
terrorist attacks against the temporary U.S. mission facility
in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of Ambassador
John Christopher Stephens, State Department employee Sean
Smith, and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.
The Committee also arranged additional briefings relevant
to intelligence oversight in locations both at home and abroad
on a wide range of issues affecting the Intelligence Community,
initiated a number of audits of Intelligence Community
programs, received assistance from its Technical Advisory
Group, and conducted five confirmation hearings.
II. LEGISLATION
A. Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011
In the 112th Congress, the Committee placed a strong
emphasis on the continued enactment of annual intelligence
authorization acts. As described in the Committee's report on
its activities during the 111th Congress (S. Rpt. 112-3), the
Committee had begun its consideration of the President's fiscal
year 2011 budget request for intelligence agencies' funding
levels and legislative proposals during 2010.
The Committee's budget monitors during the 111th Congress
evaluated the budget requests for fiscal year 2011 submitted by
the Executive Branch for the civilian and military agencies and
departments of the Intelligence Community (IC). These reviews
included the National Intelligence Program (NIP) and the
Military Intelligence Program (MIP).
The intelligence entities covered by the annual budget
reviews include the Office of the Director of the National
Intelligence (ODNI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Agency
(NSA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the intelligence
capabilities of the military services and the Coast Guard, as
well as the intelligence-related components of the Federal
Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), the Departments of State,
Treasury, Energy, and Homeland Security (DHS) and the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA).
As part of its review, the Committee held closed budget
hearings in 2010 on the President's budget request for fiscal
year 2011 at which senior IC officials testified. During
briefings, and on site at IC agencies, Committee staff
designated as budget monitors for particular IC elements
evaluated classified detailed budget justifications submitted
by the Executive Branch. Based on those reviews, the Committee
prepared a classified annex to its annual authorization bill
and report. This annex contained a classified schedule of
authorizations and classified directions to IC elements that
addressed a wide range of issues identified during the annual
budget reviews and other Committee oversight activities.
The Committee also reviewed the Administration's proposals
for the public part of the fiscal year 2011 bill consisting of
new or amended legislative authority requested by the IC. The
fiscal year 2011 request was transmitted to the Committee by
the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on May 27, 2010,
and was the subject of a closed hearing on June 22, 2010.
In the first half of 2011, during the 112th Congress, the
Committee completed work on an intelligence authorization bill
for fiscal year 2011. The Committee reported S. 719 on April 4,
2011 (S. Rpt. 112-12), and then worked with the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence and other congressional
committees on H.R. 754, which was passed by the House of
Representatives on May 13, 2011, by a vote of 392-15. The
Senate passed H.R. 754 by a voice vote on May 26, 2011. It was
signed into law on June 18, 2011 (Public Law 112-18).
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011
authorized funding for fiscal year 2011 for intelligence and
intelligence-related activities across the U.S. Government and
included a classified schedule of authorizations and classified
annex. The Act contained a number of legislative provisions,
including:
A section that requires the IC to implement
fully by the end of 2013 automated information
technology threat detection programs;
A provision improving the ability of
government agencies to detail personnel to needed areas
of the IC; and
A commendation of IC personnel for their
role in bringing Usama Bin Laden to justice and
reaffirming the commitment of the Congress to the use
of the capabilities of the IC to disrupt, dismantle,
and defeat al-Qa'ida and affiliated organizations.
B. Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
In early 2011, while finishing work on the fiscal year 2011
legislation, the Committee also began its consideration of the
President's requests for funding levels and legislative
authority for fiscal year 2012. The Committee's budget monitors
evaluated the budget requests submitted by the Executive
Branch, and the Committee counsels and professional staff
members reviewed the legislative requests with intelligence
agency officials. Committee staff held briefings at the
Committee and on site at agencies, and the Committee conducted
closed budget hearings. The Committee received the
Administration's proposed fiscal year 2012 bill on June 8,
2011, and additional provisions on June 21, 2011. The Committee
subsequently posted on its website the full legislative request
and an unclassified version of a statement for the record
concerning the fiscal year 2012 legislative requests from
Robert Litt, the ODNI General Counsel.
The Committee reported S. 1458 on August 1, 2011 (S. Rpt.
112-43), and then worked with the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence and other congressional committees on
H.R. 1892, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2012. This bill was passed by the House of Representatives on
September 9, 2011, by a vote of 384-14. The Senate passed an
amendment in the nature of a substitute to the House-passed
bill by unanimous consent on December 14, 2011. The provisions
of the bill were explained in a statement by Chairman Feinstein
prior to its passage (157 Cong. Rec. S8617). The House
subsequently suspended the rules and passed the Senate
amendment on December 16, 2011, by a vote of 396-23. The
President signed the bill into law on January 2, 2012 (Public
Law 112-87), which became the third intelligence authorization
bill signed into law within 15 months.
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
authorized funding for fiscal year 2012 for intelligence and
intelligence-related activities across the U.S. Government at
essentially the same level as fiscal year 2011 levels,
representing a reduction from the President's request. The Act
contained a number of legislative provisions, including:
New procurement authorities that enable
intelligence agencies to protect against supply chain
risk to information technologies;
A provision that provides burial allowances
for intelligence employees killed in the line of duty,
similar to those for members of the U.S. military;
A measure authorizing new accounts at the
Department of Treasury to enable defense intelligence
agencies to become financially auditable;
Provisions to strengthen congressional
oversight of the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo
Bay;
A requirement that the DNI establish and
maintain on the publicly accessible ODNI website
information for contacting the Inspector General of the
Intelligence Community (IC IG);
A section to improve the accuracy of IC cost
estimates; and
Provisions that provide the DNI with needed
personnel management authorities.
C. Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
During 2012, the Committee considered the President's
requests for funding levels and legislative provisions for
intelligence and intelligence-related activities in fiscal year
2013. Again, the Committee's budget monitors evaluated the
budget requests submitted by the Executive Branch, and
Committee counsels and professional staff members reviewed the
legislative requests with intelligence agency officials.
Committee staff held briefings at the Committee and on site at
agencies, and the Committee conducted closed budget hearings as
well as a closed hearing on the issues associated with the
unauthorized disclosure of classified information. The
Committee received the Administration's proposed fiscal year
2013 bill on April 10, 2012. The Committee subsequently posted
on its website the full legislative request.
The Committee reported S. 3454, the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, on July 30, 2012 (S.
Rpt. 112-192). The bill and report were publicly available on
the Committee's website and the classified schedule of
authorizations and classified annex were available for all
Senators to review in the Committee's offices. Subsequently,
the Committee worked with the House Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence and other congressional committees on a final
version of the legislation, in this case an amendment in the
nature of a substitute to S. 3454. In addition, the Committee
considered the views presented to it by members of the public.
On December 28, 2012, the Senate passed by unanimous consent an
amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by the Chairman
and Vice Chairman. The provisions of the bill were explained in
a statement by Chairman Feinstein prior to the bill's passage
(158 Cong. Rec. S. 8513-8516). The House of Representatives
suspended the rules and passed S. 3454 as amended on December
31, 2012, by a vote of 373-29. The President signed the bill
into law on January 14, 2013 (Public Law 112-277).
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
authorized funding for fiscal year 2013 for intelligence and
intelligence-related activities across the U.S. Government, and
included a classified schedule of authorizations and classified
annex. The Act contained a number of legislative provisions,
including:
A requirement for notification on a timely
basis to the congressional intelligence committees with
respect to certain authorized disclosures of national
intelligence or intelligence related to national
security, with a one-year sunset;
A section that repeals four recurring
reporting requirements burdensome to IC agencies when
the information in such reports is duplicative or is
provided to Congress through other means;
A provision modifying personnel authorities
to facilitate more ``joint duty'' assignments within
the IC that will create shared knowledge across
different elements of the IC; and
A measure requiring corrective action plans
to address the issue of improper payments made by
intelligence agencies.
D. Reauthorization of Title VII of FISA
The Committee has been carefully monitoring the
implementation and use of the intelligence collection
authorities contained in the FISA Amendments Act since its
enactment in the summer of 2008 (Public Law 110-261). On
February 8, 2012, the Director of National Intelligence and the
Attorney General wrote to the leadership of the Senate and the
House of Representatives to urge that Congress reauthorize
Title VII of the FISA, which was scheduled to sunset on
December 31, 2012. They stated that the authorities under this
title of FISA, which were added by the FISA Amendments Act of
2008, allow the Intelligence Community to collect vital
information about international terrorists and other important
targets overseas while providing a comprehensive regime of
oversight to protect the civil liberties and privacy of
Americans. Subsequent to this request, the Committee held
hearings to review issues related to the implementation of
these authorities. In addition, the Committee, in conjunction
with the Senate Judiciary Committee, participated in numerous
Intelligence Community briefings on FISA implementation and
compliance issues. The DNI and Attorney General also provided
an unclassified background paper on the structure, operation,
and oversight of Title VII. On March 26, 2012, the DNI provided
the Administration's proposed legislation to extend the sunset
to June 1, 2017, and reauthorize Title VII without amendment.
Both the background paper and the proposed legislation were
made publicly available on the Committee's website.
On May 22, 2012, the Committee voted 13-2 to report a bill,
S. 3276, the FAA Sunsets Extension Act of 2012, to extend the
sunset for Title VII of FISA to June 1, 2017, as requested by
the Administration. In doing so, the Committee, by a vote of
13-2, rejected amendments to the bill concerning prohibitions
on acquisition of, or searching contents of, communications of
United States persons and requiring a report by the Inspector
General of the Department of Justice and the Inspector General
of the Intelligence Community (IC IG) on the implementation of
the amendments made by the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. The
bill and report (S. Rpt. 112-174) were filed on June 7, 2012.
The Senate Judiciary Committee subsequently considered S.
3276 on sequential referral and reported an amendment in the
nature of a substitute on July 19, 2012. The Judiciary
Committee filed its report (S. Rpt. 112-229) on September 20,
2012. The amendment would have reduced the sunset for Title VII
of FISA to June 1, 2015 (to align with three other provisions
of FISA set to expire at that time), modified the scope of
certain annual reviews submitted by the relevant agencies
involved in the implementation of Title VII, and required the
IC IG to conduct a review of the implementation of Section 702
of FISA and, consistent with the protection of national
security, publicly release a summary of the conclusions of that
review.
In the House of Representatives, the judiciary and
intelligence committees both reported H.R. 5949, the FISA
Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012, to extend the
sunset of Title VII to December 31, 2017 (H. Rpt. 112-645,
Parts I and II). The House of Representatives considered the
bill on September 12, 2012, and passed it without amendment by
a vote of 301-118.
On December 27 and 28, 2012, the Senate considered H.R.
5949 and four amendments. None of the amendments were adopted.
H.R. 5949 was then approved by a vote of 73-23 in the Senate
and signed into law on December 30, 2012 (Public Law 112-238).
E. Senate Resolution (S. Res. 86) Recognizing the Defense Intelligence
Agency on Its 50th Anniversary
In March 2011, the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, along with
other Members of the Senate, sponsored S. Res. 86 honoring the
DIA on its 50th Anniversary. The Senate adopted S. Res. 86 on
May 12, 2011. The resolution congratulated the men and women of
the DIA on the occasion of the Agency's 50th Anniversary;
honored the heroic sacrifice of the employees of the DIA who
have given their lives, or have been wounded or injured, in the
service of the United States during the past 50 years; and
expressed gratitude to all the men and women of the DIA for
their past and continued efforts to provide timely and accurate
intelligence support to deliver overwhelming advantage to our
warfighters, defense planners, and defense and national
security policymakers in the defense and security of the United
States.
F. Other Legislation
The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Committee introduced
a bill to authorize certain funds specifically for an
intelligence or intelligence-related activity and for other
purposes. The bill, S. 3314, was held at the desk and passed
the Senate without amendment on June 19, 2012. Chairman
Feinstein explained the purpose of the bill and its provisions
in a statement before its passage (158 Cong. Rec. S4307-4308).
No further action on the bill occurred in the House of
Representatives.
The Committee also reviewed legislation produced by other
Committees and considered by the Senate to ensure that the
views and equities of the Intelligence Community were
appropriately considered.
III. OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES
A. Hearings
1. Worldwide Threat
Since 1994, the Committee has held an annual Worldwide
Threat Hearing to review the Intelligence Community's
assessment of the current and projected national security
threats to the United States. These hearings cover national
security concerns in all geographic regions as well as
transnational threats such as terrorism and the proliferation
of missiles and weapons of mass destruction that transcend
borders. The Committee holds these hearings to educate both the
Congress and the American public about the threats facing the
country, the Intelligence Community's analysis about those
threats, and how intelligence agencies with the appropriate
authorities are working to counter such threats.
On February 16, 2011, the Committee held an open hearing on
the current and projected threats to the United States. The
lead witness testifying before the Committee was James R.
Clapper, the newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence.
He was joined by Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA; Robert S.
Mueller III, Director of the FBI; Lieutenant General Ronald L.
Burgess, Jr., Director of the DIA; Philip Goldberg, Assistant
Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; and Michael
Leiter, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
Director Clapper's unclassified prepared statement for the
record is available in the Hearings section of the Committee's
website and the record of the hearing has been printed as S.
Hrg. 112-252. A video recording of the full hearing can also be
found on the Committee's website.
Director Clapper stated his belief that ``counterterrorism,
counterproliferation, and counterintelligence are at the
immediate forefront of our security concerns,'' but noted, ``It
is virtually impossible to rank--in terms of long-term
importance--the numerous, potential threats to U.S. national
security.'' He asserted that ``[t]he United States no longer
faces--as in the Cold War--one dominant threat. Rather, it is
the multiplicity and interconnectedness of potential threats--
and the actors behind them--that constitute our biggest
challenge. Indeed, even the three categories noted above are
also inextricably linked, reflecting a quickly changing
international environment of rising new powers, rapid diffusion
of power to non-state actors and ever greater access by
individuals and small groups to lethal technologies.''
Director Clapper then explained the Intelligence
Community's role concerning the quickly changing and complex
international environment. ``We in the Intelligence Community
believe it is our duty to work together as an integrated team
to understand and master this complexity. By providing better
strategic and tactical intelligence, we can partner more
effectively with other Government officials at home and abroad
to protect our vital national interests.''
On January 31, 2012, in the second session of the 112th
Congress, the Committee held its annual open hearing on the
current and projected threats to the United States. DNI Clapper
presented a consolidated statement on behalf of the IC and was
joined by David Petraeus, Director of the CIA; Robert S.
Mueller III, Director of the FBI; Lieutenant General Ronald L.
Burgess, Jr., Director of the DIA; Philip Goldberg, Assistant
Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; Matthew
Olsen, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center; and
Caryn Wagner, Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis at
the Department of Homeland Security. Director Clapper's
unclassified statement for the record is available in the
Hearings section of the Committee's website and the record of
the hearing has been printed as S. Hrg. 112-481. A video
recording of the full hearing can also be found on the
Committee's website.
Director Clapper reprised his testimony from 2011,
specifically noting the difficulty in ranking, in terms of
long-term importance--the numerous potential threats to U.S.
national security, but adding a fourth category, cybersecurity,
to the major categories of threats that face the United States.
Cyber threats, he said, ``pose a critical national and
economic security concern due to the continued advances in--and
growing dependency on--the information technology (IT) that
underpins nearly all aspects of modern society. Data
collection, processing, storage, and transmission capabilities
are increasing exponentially; meanwhile, mobile, wireless, and
cloud computing bring the full power of the globally-connected
Internet to myriad personal devices and critical
infrastructure. Owing to market incentives, innovation in
functionality is outpacing innovation in security, and neither
the public nor private sector has been successful at fully
implementing existing best practices.''
Specifically highlighting China and Russia as being of
particular concern, Director Clapper suggested ``entities
within these countries are responsible for extensive illicit
intrusions into U.S. computer networks and theft of U.S.
intellectual property.''
2. Afghanistan/Pakistan
While the Committee's efforts in the 111th Congress focused
on the IC's role in supporting increased operations in
Afghanistan (the ``surge''), the Committee in the 112th
Congress held hearings on three significant developments in the
region: first, the killing of Usama bin Laden (UBL) on May 1,
2011; second, the significant deterioration in U.S.-Pakistan
relations, beginning with the involvement of American Raymond
Davis in a shooting in Lahore earlier that year, through the
UBL raid, and reaching a nadir with the cross-border incident
in November 2011, where Pakistani troops were inadvertently
killed by U.S. forces; and, third, the Administration's
termination of the surge effort in Afghanistan and its
signaling of a military drawdown leading to 2014. The Committee
spent considerable time and effort conducting oversight into
the significant intelligence issues related to all these
developments.
Immediately following the raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan,
that killed Usama bin Laden, the Committee heard testimony from
numerous individuals on the conduct of the operation and the
decade-long search that led to its successful execution.
Bilateral relations with Pakistan hit their lowest ebb in
recent times during this period, affecting every aspect of the
broad U.S. government engagement with that country. The
Committee held periodic hearings and received numerous briefs
on the implications of this breakdown in relations, which
included a seven-month suspension of the military ground lines
of communication that support the allied war effort in
Afghanistan. In addition to focusing on IC activities, the
Committee was regularly briefed on assessments of the
consequences of this breakdown on U.S. counterterrorism efforts
in the terrorist safe haven in Pakistan's tribal regions.
During the 112th Congress, the Committee took particular
interest in intelligence assessments on the role the Haqqani
network played in conducting operations against U.S., NATO, and
Afghan military and civilian targets in Afghanistan.
Throughout the 112th Congress, the Committee conducted
hearings and received briefings on IC assessments regarding the
strength and long-term viability of the Afghan insurgency and
the implications for long-term U.S. policy goals. As the
Administration develops its policy on Afghanistan, the
Committee will continue to review the role of the IC in
implementing these policies, and how these decisions affect
current IC operations in the region.
3. Iran
The Committee held a number of hearings on Iran to evaluate
the Intelligence Community's collection and analysis
capabilities. Hearings provided Senators with: intelligence
assessments about Iran's nuclear and weapons advances; its
willingness to sponsor terrorist attacks in the United States
or against our interests abroad, particularly in the wake of
the 2011 plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United
States; the impact of U.S. and international sanctions on
Iran's economy and decision making; the domestic political
problems confronting Iran's leadership; and Iran's efforts to
spread its influence externally and exploit the Arab Spring by
supporting proxies and surrogates abroad.
In addition to hearings, the Committee received regular
briefings and reports from the National Intelligence Council,
Central Intelligence Agency, and elements of the Department of
Defense, Department of State, and nongovernmental
organizations. These activities supported oversight of the
intelligence agencies and helped to inform the legislative
debate over the appropriate U.S. policy towards Iran.
4. Iraq
The Committee held a hearing and received briefings on the
security situation in Iraq and its effect on neighboring
countries. Further, in the aftermath of the December 2011
withdrawal of U.S. forces, the Committee reviewed the IC
resources dedicated to Iraq and subsequently worked to reduce
unnecessary funding and personnel devoted to intelligence
issues involving that nation.
5. Unauthorized Disclosure of Classified Information to the Media
(``Leaks'')
During the 112th Congress, the Committee held a hearing and
numerous staff briefings to review issues related to the
Committee's continuing concern over unauthorized disclosures of
classified information, particularly disclosures to the media.
The Committee held a hearing with Ms. Lisa Monaco, Assistant
Attorney General for National Security, and Mr. Robert Litt,
General Counsel for the ODNI, to examine IC and law enforcement
efforts to prevent and investigate unauthorized disclosures, as
well as to prosecute, or otherwise hold accountable, those
determined to be responsible for such disclosures.
In furtherance of the Committee's efforts to address
unauthorized disclosures of classified information, the
Committee included a provision in the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, that requires, subject
to certain specified exceptions, that government officials
responsible for making certain authorized disclosures of
national intelligence or intelligence related to national
security notify the congressional intelligence committees on a
timely basis with respect to such disclosures. This provision,
Section 504, is intended to ensure that the intelligence
committees are made aware of authorized disclosures of national
intelligence or intelligence related to national security that
are made to media personnel or likely to appear in the press,
so that, among other things, these authorized disclosures may
be distinguished from unauthorized ``leaks.'' Unless renewed,
the provision will expire one year after enactment.
6. CIA Operation that Killed Usama bin Ladin
On May 1, 2011, U.S. forces operating under the authority
of the Director of the CIA killed al-Qa'ida leader Usama bin
Ladin during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan--
the culmination of years of work by multiple intelligence
agencies to locate him. Usama bin Ladin authorized the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that murdered 2,973
people in New York City, Arlington, Virginia, and Shanksville,
Pennsylvania. He was also responsible for other terrorist
attacks against the United States and its allies, including the
East Africa embassy bombings, the attack on the USS Cole, and
the Bali, Madrid, and London bombings. The Chairman and Vice
Chairman had been briefed on the intelligence regarding bin
Laden's location prior to the strike, and the Committee was
briefed on the raid immediately after it took place. The
Committee held subsequent hearings and staff briefings on the
operation, including a joint hearing with the Senate Armed
Services Committee. These hearings focused on the details of
the operation itself, as well as the intelligence collection
and analysis that led to the identification of the Abbottabad
compound. Later briefings examined the intelligence gathered in
the aftermath of the raid, the effects on U.S. counterterrorism
efforts that stemmed from the killing of bin Laden, and the
lessons learned from this successful intelligence operation.
7. Oversight of Intelligence Community Counterterrorism Efforts
The Committee during the 112th Congress continued its
oversight of the IC's role in U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
The Committee continued its practice of conducting regularly
scheduled meetings on this subject with IC personnel, including
from the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI, and held
numerous hearings and briefings with IC agency heads and staff
as well.
In particular, the Committee has devoted significant time
and attention to targeted killings. As part of this continuing
effort, the Committee staff during the 112th Congress held 23
in-depth oversight meetings with government officials to review
operations, examine their effectiveness, verify the care taken
to avoid non-combatant deaths, and understand the related
intelligence collection and analysis. In addition, the
Committee has worked with the involved organizations and the
Department of Justice to understand the legal basis supporting
targeted killing.
Additionally, the Committee has conducted oversight of the
implementation of new policies and practices in the area of
interrogation, such as the establishment and operations of the
High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group. It has also increased
its focus on relations between the IC and foreign liaison
partners.
8. Cybersecurity
The Committee held four hearings on cybersecurity-related
matters in the 112th Congress. Additionally, Committee staff
met frequently with Intelligence Community and other government
officials, and with private sector entities involved in
cybersecurity efforts. These hearings, briefings, and meetings
kept the Committee informed of the government's cybersecurity
programs and the private sector's cyber capabilities,
vulnerabilities, and concerns. With the government's increasing
focus on countering cyber threats, investments in cyber
security programs are increasing. To evaluate these
investments, the Committee has pressed the IC for more
meaningful measures of effectiveness of its cyber security
programs.
One noteworthy government-led effort is the Defense
Industrial Base (DIB) Pilot. On June 10, 2010, the Deputy
Secretary of Defense issued a memo directing the Director of
the NSA to work with the private sector to increase the level
of DIB cybersecurity protection. The DIB Pilot established
legal, operational, and technical mechanisms to enable the use
of United States Government cyber threat information to protect
participating DIB companies.
9. Covert action
The Committee continued to conduct vigorous oversight of
covert action programs throughout the 112th Congress. The
Committee's rules require the Committee's Staff Director to
``ensure that covert action programs of the United States
government receive appropriate consideration once a quarter.''
In accordance with this rule, the Committee receives a written
report every quarter on each covert action that is being
carried out under a presidential finding. Committee staff
reviews these reports and meet with Intelligence Community
personnel to discuss their substance and pose additional
questions. The Committee also holds periodic hearings and
briefings on covert action programs, and receives reviews of
covert actions from the CIA Inspector General, which are often
the basis for additional staff inquiries.
Further, under the National Security Act, the DNI and the
heads of all departments, agencies, and entities of the United
States government involved in a covert action are required to
keep the congressional intelligence committees fully and
currently informed of all covert actions that are the
responsibility of, are engaged in by, or are carried out for or
on behalf of any department or agency of the United States.
Upon receiving such notifications, the Committee reviews the
details of each notification and receives briefings to
understand the issues related to them more fully.
The Committee seeks to ensure that covert action programs
are consistent with United States foreign policy goals, and
conducted in accordance with all applicable U.S. laws. The
Committee pursues its oversight responsibilities for covert
action with the understanding that these programs can be a
significant factor in accomplishing foreign policy objectives.
10. Counterproliferation
The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction remains a
significant threat to U.S. national security interests and a
major focus of the IC. At the Worldwide Threat Hearing in 2012,
DNI Clapper described efforts to develop, acquire, or spread
weapons of mass destruction as ``a major global strategic
threat.'' Therefore, during the 112th Congress, the Committee
continued to conduct oversight of the IC's counterproliferation
collection posture and analytic capabilities. The Committee met
regularly with the National Counterproliferation Center and
various components in the intelligence agencies with
counterproliferation responsibilities to receive updates on
issues of importance. Additionally, the Committee held a number
of hearings and briefings on the proliferation activities of
countries of interest.
11. Implementation of FISA Authorities
During the 112th Congress, the Committee held hearings and
conducted numerous staff briefings to review issues related to
the implementation of surveillance authorities contained in
FISA. These issues included implementation of Title VII
authorities, which were subject to sunset on December 31, 2012,
as well as issues associated with the implementation of other
provisions of FISA, such as Title IV (Pen Registers and Trap
and Trace Devices for Foreign Intelligence Purposes) and Title
V (Access to Certain Business Records for Foreign Intelligence
Purposes).
In furtherance of its oversight, the Committee also
reviewed reporting required under provisions in FISA, including
the annual and semi-annual reports from the Attorney General,
the DNI, and relevant agency heads and inspectors general. By
operation of Section 601(c) of FISA (50 U.S.C. 1871(c)), the
Committee obtained copies of classified decisions, orders, and
opinions of the FISA Court that include ``significant
construction or interpretation of any provision,'' as well as
the related pleadings, applications, and memoranda of law. The
Committee routinely examined these documents and they were the
subject of subsequent briefings and hearings involving
officials from the Department of Justice and the Intelligence
Community.
B. Inquiries and Reviews
1. Study of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program
The Committee's Study of the CIA's Detention and
Interrogation Program was an outgrowth of previous oversight
activity by the Committee. In December 2007, after press
accounts stated that the CIA had possessed and destroyed
videotapes of the interrogations of CIA detainees, the
Committee initiated a review of CIA operational documents
related to the CIA's detention and interrogation program.
On March 5, 2009, by a vote of 14 to 1, the Committee
approved terms of reference for a broader study of the CIA's
detention and interrogation program. The Study proceeded in a
bi-partisan manner until August 24, 2009, when Attorney General
Holder announced that the Department of Justice had re-opened a
preliminary review into whether federal criminal laws were
violated in connection with the interrogation of specific
detainees at overseas locations. Believing that this decision
would likely preclude interviews with the most relevant
Intelligence Community personnel, then-Vice Chairman
Christopher ``Kit'' Bond withdrew his staff from further active
participation in the Study.
In spite of these obstacles, the Committee devoted
considerable resources to completing the Study. The document
production phase lasted more than three years, produced more
than 6 million pages of material, and was completed in July
2012. The Study is based primarily on a review of these
documents, which include cable traffic, reports, memoranda,
intelligence products, records of interviews conducted of CIA
personnel by the CIA's Office of the Inspector General and
other CIA entities, as well as internal email and other
communications. The Committee did not interview Intelligence
Community personnel during the course of conducting the Study,
due to the ongoing Department of Justice criminal
investigation.
In addition to CIA materials, the Committee reviewed a
smaller quantity of documents from other Executive Branch
elements, as well as documents and information that had been
provided separately to the Committee outside of the Committee's
Study.
On December 13, 2012, the Committee approved its report on
the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program, by a vote of 9
to 6. The Committee Study is a highly detailed report that
exceeds 6,000 pages and includes approximately 35,000
footnotes. It is divided into three volumes:
I. History and Operation of the CIA's Detention and
Interrogation Program. This volume is divided chronologically
into sections addressing the establishment, development, and
evolution of the CIA detention and interrogation program.
II. Intelligence Acquired and CIA Representations on the
Effectiveness of the CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.
This volume addresses the intelligence attributed to CIA
detainees and the use of the CIA's enhanced interrogation
techniques, specifically focusing on CIA representations on how
the CIA detention and interrogation program was operated and
managed, as well as the effectiveness of the interrogation
program. It includes sections on CIA representations to the
Congress, the Department of Justice, and the media.
III. Detention and Interrogation of Detainees. This volume
addresses the detention and interrogation of all known CIA
detainees, from the program's inception to its official end, on
January 22, 2009, to include information on their capture,
detention, interrogation, and conditions of confinement. It
also includes extensive information on the CIA's management,
oversight, and day-to-day operation of the CIA's detention and
interrogation program.
The Committee has provided copies of the Study to the
Central Intelligence Agency, the White House, the Department of
State, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence, with a request that the
White House coordinate comments from all relevant Executive
Branch agencies. Although the Committee had asked that these
comments be provided by February 15, 2013, the Administration
has requested an extension of time to provide feedback on the
report. Vice Chairman Chambliss and Senators Burr, Risch,
Coats, Blunt, and Rubio filed their minority views on February
15, 2013, in which they presented the basis for their
disagreement with the report's conclusions, particularly
regarding the effectiveness of the program and the CIA's
representations to policymakers, and explained their reasons
for opposing the final report. Once the Committee receives the
Administration's feedback, it will consider the comments,
discuss recommendations for reform, as well as discuss the
public release of the Study, including the minority views.
2. Committee Review of Intelligence Issues Related to the September 11,
2012, Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi, Libya
Shortly after the September 11, 2012, attacks on U.S.
diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, the Committee began a
review of Intelligence Community documents to understand fully
the events surrounding this terrorist attack. The Committee's
review has focused on: (1) the intelligence collection,
analysis, and threat reporting relating to Libya and other
Middle East countries prior to the September 11 attacks; (2)
how, when, and to whom that information was disseminated; and
(3) what actions were taken in response. The Committee has
gathered facts on what is now known about the events of
September 11, who was responsible for the attacks, and what
efforts are being made to bring them to justice. In addition,
the Committee has focused on the IC's collection capabilities
in the Middle East and North Africa, to include the levels of
funding and availability of intelligence personnel with
language and other skills necessary to operate in that part of
the world. Finally, the Committee has sought to examine the
level and adequacy of security at U.S. government facilities in
the Middle East and North Africa, and whether current security
arrangements at these high-threat facilities are appropriate in
light of what the Committee has learned about the Benghazi
attacks.
The Committee held four closed hearings to look into the
circumstances--including the intelligence and security
situation--surrounding the attacks, and the intelligence and
security situation in other countries in North Africa and the
Middle East. By the end of the 112th Congress, the Committee
had also received staff-level briefings and conducted formal
interviews, some of which have been on the record, and
continued to examine relevant information and documents,
including thousands of pages of intelligence provided by the IC
and the Departments of State and Defense. The Committee intends
to complete this review and issue its findings early in the
113th Congress.
C. Intelligence Community Issues
1. Response to Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information
The Committee continued its oversight, begun in the 111th
Congress, of the ODNI's response to unauthorized disclosures of
classified information. In 2012, the Committee became
increasingly concerned about the accelerating pace of such
disclosures, the sensitivity of the matters in question, and
the harm caused to our national security interests. Committee
members expressed concerns that each disclosure puts American
lives at risk, threatens ongoing human and technical
intelligence operations, makes it more difficult to recruit
assets, strains the trust of liaison partners, and threatens
imminent and irreparable damage to our national security in the
face of urgent and rapidly adapting threats worldwide.
In furtherance of this effort, the Committee met with DNI
Clapper in a closed session on June 2012 to underscore the need
for the Executive Branch to take tangible and demonstrable
steps to detect and deter intelligence leaks, and to fully,
fairly, and impartially investigate the disclosures that have
already taken place. The IC later implemented changes to
address leaks, including in the expanded use of the polygraph
and directing the IC IG to lead independent administrative
investigations of select unauthorized disclosure cases.
As part of its review of unauthorized disclosures, in June
2012 the Committee met with the National Counterintelligence
Executive (NCIX) Frank Montoya, Jr., regarding the role of the
Office of the NCIX (ONCIX) in preventing, detecting, and
investigating unauthorized disclosures of classified
information. The Committee also held briefings with key ODNI
officials responsible for implementing these policies,
including the head of ONCIX's Special Security Directorate and
the IC IG Chief of Investigations. The Committee's review also
focused on Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 700, which
among other things, designated the NCIX to facilitate and
monitor the implementation and effectiveness of IC
counterintelligence and security policies, procedures, and
programs, and to develop recommendations for new or modified
policies. The Committee also received an update on
implementation of reforms from NCIX Montoya in October 2012.
2. Information Sharing
The Committee continued its oversight of the efforts of the
ODNI to improve the discoverability and sharing of information
across the IC. Specifically, the Committee focused on the
implementation of ICD 501--``Discovery and Dissemination or
Retrieval of Information within the Intelligence Community,''
approved January 21, 2009, which is meant to ensure that
information necessary for intelligence officials to perform
their mission is made available in a systemic and routine
fashion, with the goal of providing more accurate, timely, and
insightful analysis to inform decision-making. As part of this
review, the Committee found that while the ODNI and other
agencies have made progress when it comes to secure information
sharing across the government and with external partners,
critical challenges remain. For example, the Committee noted
evidence of backlogs in reviewing vital intelligence and
disseminating such information across the IC.
In response, the Committee held a series of meetings with
ODNI officials responsible for effective information sharing
and collaboration in the IC, including the Deputy Director for
Intelligence Integration (DDII), the IC Chief Information
Officer, the IC Information Sharing Executive, and the Program
Manager of the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE), to
address these issues. Also of note, the PM-ISE's 2012 Annual
Report, issued in June 2012, stated that the biggest challenges
facing IC information sharing efforts include ``the
continuously evolving threat environment, the tsunami of new
data, and a constrained fiscal environment.'' The Committee
recognizes these challenges and will continue to press the ODNI
to improve discoverability and sharing of information in
fulfillment of ICD 501.
3. Strategic Plan
In February 2012, the DNI submitted to the Committee the
ODNI Strategic Plan, which is intended to set the ODNI's
direction for the next four years and offer a clear path
forward to advance intelligence integration. In a series of
briefings to the Committee, ODNI officials emphasized the
following goals and objectives of the Strategic Plan:
responsible and secure information sharing; implementation of
the Unifying Intelligence Strategies; strengthening of
partnerships; advancement of cutting-edge capabilities; and the
promotion of a diverse, highly skilled workforce.
The Committee reviewed the ODNI Strategic Plan and
supplemental material such as the Strategic Human Capital Plan.
As part of this process, the Committee requested information
regarding the delegation of responsibilities within the ODNI
for implementation of the Strategic Plan, including appropriate
studies and evaluations, performance measures and targets,
milestones, deliverables, and engagement with other IC
elements. The Committee emphasized to the ODNI that specific
and quantifiable performance measures and the identification of
the entities responsible for communicating the plan across the
IC would be essential to successful implementation of the
Strategic Plan. Additionally, the Committee reviewed the ODNI's
plan to expand the number of joint duty assignments available
to its workforce with the goal of bringing in personnel with
diverse backgrounds and experiences as a means of furthering
intelligence integration. The Committee requested that the ODNI
continue to provide information on its efforts to enhance
workplace communication, ensure fair and open competition, and
encourage employee engagement.
4. Role of the Intelligence Community in the United States Export
Control Regime
The Committee in its report to accompany the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 requested that the DNI
provide to the congressional intelligence committees a full
description of the IC's participation in, and contributions
made to, the export control decision-making processes of the
United States government. The Committee requested that the
report address the following information: which IC agencies
contribute to the export control review process; the level at
which agency contributions are made, including hours of
personnel effort involved; the process for identifying and
closing intelligence gaps related to understanding foreign
technological capabilities and potential threats; the
opportunities that may exist for new collection and analysis
activity; the authorities under which IC agencies provide input
into the export control process; the training available on
export control processes for IC personnel; and any
recommendations for improvements that should be made in the
decision-making processes involving the IC. The Committee
received this report at the end of this period and will use its
information to guide oversight of IC participation in this
process.
5. Core Contractors
The Committee has been concerned about the dramatic
increase in the use of contractors by the IC since 9/11. While
contractors can serve an important role in providing expertise
and filling an emerging need quickly, the Committee notes that
contractor personnel costs tend to be substantially more than
government personnel rates. The Committee commends the IC for
its efforts over the past few years to reduce core contractors
and to convert core contractors where appropriate to government
employees. However, data reviewed by the Committee indicate
that some elements of the IC have been hiring additional
contractors after they have converted or otherwise removed
other contractors, resulting in an overall workforce that
continues to grow. Thus, the Committee recommended in the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 that all
elements of the IC should be able to track the number of its
core contractors on a regular basis. During this period, IC
agencies only had the capability to compile data on contractors
once a year to respond to the ODNI core contractor review. The
Committee continued to work with the IC elements in order that
each would be able to determine its use of core contractors on
a weekly or monthly basis.
6. Comptroller General Access to Intelligence Community Information
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
required the DNI, in consultation with the Comptroller General,
to issue a written directive governing access of the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) to certain information in
possession of the Intelligence Community. In response, the DNI
in April 2011 issued ICD 114, which states that it is IC policy
to cooperate with GAO audits and reviews to the fullest extent
possible and make information available to appropriately
cleared GAO personnel. As a result, the Committee conducted
oversight on ICD 114, meeting multiple times with ODNI and GAO
officials to encourage open lines of communication and
collaboration between the two entities to ensure accountability
and appropriate levels of transparency for Intelligence
Community activities.
ICD 114 also states that certain information that falls
within the purview of the congressional intelligence oversight
committees, including information regarding ``intelligence
collection operations, intelligence analyses and analytical
techniques, counterintelligence operations, and intelligence
funding,'' generally shall not be made available to the GAO to
support a GAO audit or review of core national intelligence
capabilities or activities. Thus, the Committee spent time
examining the issues involving implementation of this
provision.
7. Cyber Analysis
During the Committee's January 31, 2012, Worldwide Threat
Hearing, DNI Clapper noted that the Intelligence Community now
viewed cyber threats in the same category as terrorism and
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, saying: ``The
cyber threat is one of the most challenging ones we face.''
Given the importance of cyber threat analysis to meeting
this challenge, the Committee undertook an initiative to study
the IC's cyber analytic programs and workforce. Over the course
of 2012, the Committee gathered information from every
Intelligence Community agency with a cyber-security mission on
the agency's analytic missions, production priorities,
information discovery and sharing tools, and workforce for the
community's cyber analysis programs. The Committee is currently
reviewing this information and expects the results to inform
its oversight of the scope, focus, supporting technologies, and
resources devoted to the IC's cyber analytic mission.
8. Analysis on North Korea
As part of its effort to focus more intently on specific IC
analytic programs and resources, the Committee in 2012
undertook an initiative to study the Intelligence Community's
analytic programs and workforce related to North Korea. The
Committee gathered information from numerous IC agencies with a
mission to analyze North Korea and is currently reviewing each
agency's analytic missions, production priorities, information
discovery and sharing tools, and overall workforce in this
area.
9. Intelligence Advance Research Projects Activity
The Committee views the role of the Intelligence Advanced
Research Projects Activity (IARPA) as important to the success
of IC research and technology investment and maintenance of the
U.S. Government's strategic advantage. In 2011, the Committee
noted that narrow contracting authorities have hampered IARPA.
IARPA's current ability to issue solicitations and make
selections works well, but other contracting authorities seem
to be inadequate. Once IARPA identifies an entity with a
promising research proposal, it requires nine months or more to
put a contract in place. Some sources of innovative research,
such as small businesses, cannot afford to wait nearly a year
for an opportunity to work with IARPA. Therefore, the Committee
in the report to accompany the Intelligence Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2012 requested that the DNI reevaluate the
authorities delegated to the Director of IARPA and look for
additional opportunities to delegate additional authorities to
better support IARPA's mission. As a result of this inquiry,
the DNI issued new interim policy documents and reformed the
contracting authorities provided to IARPA.
10. Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise
In an October 17, 2011, speech, Director Clapper announced
his intent to find substantial cost savings in the IC's
Information Technology (IT) budgets over the next ten years.
The DNI stated that IT costs totaled 20 to 25 percent of the
IC's fiscal year 2012 request and established a goal of finding
one-half the needed savings under the Budget Control Act of
2011 (Public Law 112-25), for the IC through IT efficiencies.
Since the DNI's announcement, the Intelligence Community Chief
Information Officer (IC CIO) has led an effort to create a
community-wide information technology enterprise.
In response to this initiative, the Committee held
quarterly reviews of these IC IT plans, and identified to the
IC shortfalls in technical and programmatic rigor that could
undermine the achievement of its goals. The Committee plans to
continue to review the IC's plans to achieve IT efficiencies.
11. Space Launch
The Committee remains concerned over space launch costs,
particularly of the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch
Vehicle (EELV) program. Although actions taken by both the
United Launch Alliance (ULA) and the U.S. Air Force seem to
have curtailed this cost growth in the near term, the Committee
continues to believe additional efficiencies and savings are
necessary in the EELV program.
The Committee believes it is in the nation's economic and
national security interests to promote competition among U.S.
space launch providers, and to do so as soon as potential
competitors are viable. Therefore, the Committee included
language in both its report to accompany S. 1458, the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (S. Rpt.
112-43), and its report to accompany S. 3454, the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (S. Rpt. 112-192),
recommending that the NRO pursue a space launch policy that
encourages competition in this area. In September 2012, the
U.S. Air Force and the NRO announced an updated policy that
provided for new entrants to be certified and compete for
future space launch contracts.
12. Defense Clandestine Service and Defense Intelligence Agency Vision
2020
During the 112th Congress, the Undersecretary of Defense
for Intelligence (USDI) and the Director of the DIA announced
publicly their intentions to create a Defense Clandestine
Service (DCS) and consolidate the management of Department of
Defense human intelligence collection. Further, according to
the Defense Intelligence Agency Vision 2020, the DIA also plans
to reorganize its directorates to focus on and support its
human intelligence collection mission.
The Committee reviewed the DIA's plans for both the DCS and
its reorganization, and found that they lacked details
necessary for effective review and implementation. As a result,
the Committee included a provision in the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 requesting a more
detailed plan from the DIA on how it plans to implement its DCS
initiative and reorganization. This review is continuing into
the new Congress.
13. Analysis
The Committee continued to focus on the progress of the
Intelligence Community's analytic transformation as well as the
process of analysis and the quality of analytic products
produced by the IC. The Committee conducted ongoing reviews of
IC and individual agency efforts to: create and follow
community-wide standards of analytic tradecraft; resource
analytic organizations with sufficient personnel through
recruitment, training, utilization, and retention; determine
the level and depth of analytic collaboration and intelligence-
sharing within and among intelligence agencies; and assess the
balance between the IC's focus on reporting current threats
versus long-term analysis.
The Committee also focused on the specific roles and
missions of various IC analytic organizations, seeking to
encourage reductions in, or elimination of, organizations with
redundant or duplicative missions and responsibilities. The
Committee examined the IC's analytic workforce to determine if
the specific analytic personnel requests within each agency
were justified, and looked across the entire IC to determine if
agencies had redundant analytic portfolios. During this period,
some agencies continued to realign analytic priorities, but
also began to reduce levels of growth in comparison to prior
years' levels.
The Committee received substantive briefings from analytic
organizations within the IC; hosted and attended analytic
roundtables on a range of regional and functional analysis;
conducted analysis oversight meetings with senior analysts and
analytic managers; and met with the IC's Analytic Ombudsman to
discuss the status and future of analytic reforms within the
IC. These activities supported intelligence oversight in
general, but specifically contributed to focusing the IC on the
improvement of overall analytic quality.
14. Committee Review of Arab Spring Analysis and Production
In 2011 and 2012, many countries in the Middle East and
North Africa went through widespread civil unrest that led to
the overthrow of their political leadership and significant
changes in their political, military, and economic
institutions. At the start of these events in early 2011, the
Committee reviewed the IC's pertinent regional analysis and
production to determine how well the IC was able to provide
warning on the events leading up to and immediately following
the so-called ``Arab Spring.'' The Committee looked at the
manner, degree, and timing of the IC's warning products and its
assessments, judgments, and predictions of key events and
changes that were occurring across the region. As part of this
review, the Committee also reviewed the IC's collection
capabilities in the region, to include its ability to track
social media and the availability of intelligence personnel
with the language skills necessary to operate in that part of
the world. The Committee also examined lessons learned by the
IC as it reallocated resources and changed analytic priorities
to meet the challenges created by the new political realities
in the region.
15. Foreign Language Capabilities
The Committee continued to focus on the foreign language
requirements and capabilities of the Intelligence Community in
order to discern the specific issues that contribute to the
IC's overall deficit in foreign language capability. The
Committee examined individual IC Agency language requirements
and capabilities and focused across the IC on language training
and education issues, foreign language professional retention
and incentive programs, linguist utilization, and language use
and maintenance pay. While incremental improvements are
underway in several agencies, the Committee found that foreign
language improvement across the IC has been intermittent and
inconsistent. As a result, the Committee acknowledges the need
to continue its oversight efforts in this area and press for
better foreign language capabilities within the IC.
16. Education and Training
During 2011 and 2012, the Committee assessed the wide range
of educational, training, internship, and scholarship programs
within and associated with the Intelligence Community. On at
least an annual basis, the Committee met with Program Directors
and managers from the IC Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE)
in National Security Studies Program, NSA's Centers of Academic
Excellence Program, the National Security Education Program
(NSEP), Boren Scholars, and the National Intelligence
University. In particular, the Committee reviewed the IC CAE in
National Security Studies Program as the program moved from the
ODNI to the DIA in 2012.
The IC educational and training programs are designed to
educate and train a broad spectrum of professionals capable of
contributing to the national security of the United States or
to offer specialized courses and degree programs in
intelligence studies to current IC employees. In multiple
meetings with academic professionals and program managers, the
Committee explored the scope, scale, and resourcing of these
programs. It also examined how successful these programs have
been in increasing the number of knowledgeable and trained
national security professionals from which the IC can recruit
as well as provide continuing education opportunities for
current IC employees.
17. Counterintelligence
During the 112th Congress, the Intelligence Committee
conducted reviews and held oversight briefings on the state of
counterintelligence in the IC. The Committee examined specific
counterintelligence failures and the steps taken to address
them, as well as the resources and emphasis devoted to
counterintelligence matters more generally. In addition, the
Committee looked at specific counterintelligence disciplines to
ascertain whether there was sufficient coordination,
prioritization, and direction to ensure vital national security
information was protected.
18. Accounting Standards and Auditability
The Fiscal Year 2002 Intelligence Authorization Act
required the CIA, DIA, NGA, NRO, and NSA to produce auditable
financial statements by March 1, 2005. This deadline was
extended several times as the IC struggled to make progress
over the last decade. Section 369 of the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, directed the DNI ``to
develop a plan and schedule to achieve a full, unqualified
audit of each element of the intelligence community not later
than September 30, 2013.''
During the 112th Congress, the Committee held periodic
briefings with the IC, to include Chief Financial Officers,
Inspectors General, and other officials to determine and assess
progress made towards achieving financial auditability by 2013.
The Committee will continue to hold regular meetings with
financial managers to measure the IC's progress on this issue.
19. Improper Payments
In 2012, the Inspectors General of CIA, DIA, NGA, NSA, NRO,
and the ODNI all produced audit reports covering their
agencies' compliance with the Improper Payments Elimination and
Recovery Act (IPERA). These reports showed that all of the
agencies failed to comply fully with IPERA. Accordingly, the
Committee included a provision in the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 that requires agencies
to submit corrective action plans to bring them into compliance
by the end of Fiscal Year 2013.
D. Audits
During the 112th Congress, the Committee conducted audits
of the IC's insider threat detection capabilities and the DHS
Office of Intelligence and Analysis, as well as reviews of
Unifying Intelligence Strategies and IC data centers. In
addition to these projects, it conducted limited reviews of
software licensing in the IC and compensation for executives of
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. Staff also
commenced preliminary research on: (1) assessing the IC's
management and use of senior executives; and (2) the use of
Originator Control (ORCON) restrictions on classified
information.
1. Insider Threat Detection Capabilities
Beginning in May 2011, the Committee's Audits and Oversight
staff conducted a review of IC insider threat detection
capabilities at the CIA, DIA, FBI, NGA, and NSA. The review
determined that in the wake of the WikiLeaks disclosures, IC
elements were improving their abilities to detect and deter
insider threats, but the review also noted wide disparities in
agencies' capabilities requiring attention and remediation. The
review concluded that the IC should improve the structure and
management of insider threat programs within IC agencies, and
that the DNI should issue IC-wide policies governing security
and counterintelligence monitoring.
2. Unifying Intelligence Strategies
In 2010, the DNI published a new mission statement for the
ODNI, which was to ``lead intelligence integration'' by
developing and implementing Unifying Intelligence Strategies
(UISs) across the Intelligence Community. Beginning in May
2011, the Committee commenced a review of the UISs to include
evaluating the extent to which the UISs contribute to the
decision making process for resource allocation, analytic
focus, and collection strategies.
As a result of these efforts, the Committee learned that
the UISs had not been completed with sufficient detail and
uniformity, and recommended that the DNI rewrite the strategy
documents with increased standardization. Additionally, the
Committee required the DNI to identify changes in the National
Intelligence Program budget request for fiscal year 2013 that
were driven by the UISs.
3. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and
Analysis
In November 2011, the Committee began a mission review of
the DHS's senior intelligence component, the Office of
Intelligence and Analysis. This review focused on the
authorities, resources, and performance of the office with
respect to its requirements in statute and policy. The review
will continue during the 113th Congress.
4. Intelligence Community Data Centers
The Committee conducted a review in October 2011 to assess
the IC's plan for its data centers and determine whether any of
the lessons learned from the rest of government regarding data
center consolidation were being applied effectively. The key
finding was that the IC not only lacked a strategy, but it also
lacked a comprehensive inventory of the data centers. Shortly
after this assessment commenced, the DNI announced his intent
to cancel the years-long effort to establish one consolidated
IC Data Center and instead pursue a migration to cloud
computing. As a result, the Committee has since focused its
oversight efforts on the establishment of cloud computing in
the IC.
5. Compensation of Federally Funded Research and Development Center
Executives
The Committee conducted a preliminary review of
compensation for senior executives at Federally Funded Research
and Development Centers. These centers are hybrid, quasi-
governmental organizations that are intended to provide
services to federal agencies that cannot be met effectively by
either government or private contractors. When the review
revealed concerns with the costs of executive compensation
packages in nearly all centers conducting work for the IC, the
Committee worked with the Senate Homeland Security and
Government Affairs Committee to examine these concerns
government-wide. Through these joint efforts, the GAO is
currently scheduled to assess the compensation for these
executives.
E. Technical Advisory Group Reports
The Committee's Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is a panel
of nationally recognized, distinguished experts in various
scientific disciplines who volunteer their time to assist the
SSCI in reviewing the science and technology needs and programs
of the Intelligence Community.
1. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
During the 112th Congress, the TAG conducted a review of
the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).
The Committee tasked the TAG to review IARPA's current areas of
scientific study and to examine IARPA's business practices and
contracting capabilities to determine whether any reforms were
necessary. The study team conducted an independent assessment
of the health and status of the IARPA's research programs in
meeting its mission goals. They looked at funding and staffing
levels, as well as the current governance model and business
practices for the activity. The team identified roadblocks to
the successful functioning of the IARPA, as well as
recommendations to remove those obstacles. The team also looked
to the future of the IARPA, considering what its mission and
strategy should be in order to provide the best value to the
IC. The TAG's recommendations informed the Committee marks in
its Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.
2. China
During the 112th Congress, the TAG also conducted a review
of steps that China is taking to become a strategic power and
to be able to counter or disrupt U.S. operations, as well as
recommending how the Intelligence Community should direct its
collection and R&D investments in response. At the Committee's
request, the IC provided a series of intelligence briefings on
China to the TAG. The resulting TAG study was briefed to the
Committee in July 2012. The TAG also briefed its conclusions to
the IC and the Department of Defense.
IV. NOMINATIONS
During the 112th Congress, the Committee considered four
nominations upon referral, three directly upon receipt of the
nomination in the Senate and one sequentially after referral to
and reporting by another committee. One nomination was
sequentially referred to and reported by another committee
after initial action by the Committee.
The Committee held hearings for all five of the pending
nominees and recommended to the Senate that it give its advice
and consent to each of the pending nominations. The Senate in
the 112th Congress confirmed all five of the individuals
recommended by the Committee.
Throughout the 112th Congress, Section 17 of S. Res. 400 of
the 94th Congress, which had been added by S. Res. 445 of the
108th Congress and was further augmented during the 109th
Congress, governed referrals to the Committee. As a result of
S. Res. 445, all nominations to advice and consent positions in
the IC are referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence,
even when they are positions--such as the Assistant Attorney
General for National Security--that are within departments
which are primarily under the jurisdiction of other Senate
committees.
The following were the nominations referred to the
Committee during the 112th Congress, listed in order of the
date of the nomination:
A. Stephanie O'Sullivan, Principal Deputy Director of National
Intelligence
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
established the position of Principal Deputy Director of
National Intelligence (PDDNI) to assist the DNI in carrying out
the duties and responsibilities of the Director under the
National Security Act. The Act provides that the PDDNI shall
exercise the powers of the DNI during the DNI's absence or
disability, or in the event of a vacancy. It also provides that
an individual nominated for appointment as PDDNI shall not only
have extensive national security experience (a requirement
applicable to the DNI as well) but also management expertise.
On January 5, 2011, the President nominated Stephanie
O'Sullivan to be the PDDNI. Prior to her confirmation, Ms.
O'Sullivan had served as the Associate Deputy Director of the
CIA. She had also held the position of Director for Science and
Technology of the CIA from 2005 to 2009. Since 1995, when she
started her career at the CIA, Ms. O'Sullivan had held numerous
engineering and technology positions including Director of
Advanced Technologies from 2002 until 2003, and Deputy Director
for Systems Development Program from 1998 until 2001. Before
her time at the CIA, she worked from 1989 until 1995 as a
project manager with the Office of Naval Intelligence. Ms.
O'Sullivan also worked in the private sector with ADRI Software
and TRW (now part of Northrop Grumman) prior to her career at
the CIA.
After receiving Ms. O'Sullivan's responses to the
Committee's standard questionnaire and responses to the
Committee's prehearing questions about her understanding of the
duties and responsibilities of the office to which she had been
nominated, the Committee held a nomination hearing on February
3, 2011. Ms. O'Sullivan's testimony and her responses to the
Committee's questionnaire, prehearing questions, and questions
for the record are printed in S. Hrg. 112-18 and posted on the
Committee's website. Following those hearings, the Committee
via a unanimous voice vote reported the nomination favorably on
February 15, 2011. The Senate approved the nomination by voice
vote on February 17, 2011.
B. Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division
The National Security Division at the Department of Justice
and the position of Assistant Attorney General for National
Security were created by Congress in the USA PATRIOT
Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, which became law
on March 9, 2006, in an effort to coordinate national security
investigations and prosecutions within the Department of
Justice. The Assistant Attorney General (AAG) serves as the
Attorney General's principal legal advisor on national security
issues and is the primary liaison for the Department of Justice
to the DNI.
On March 17, 2011, the Senate received the President's
nomination of Lisa Monaco to fill the position of AAG for
National Security. At the time of her confirmation, Ms. Monaco
was the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General at the
United States Department of Justice. During her previous
thirteen years at the Department of Justice, she has also
served as a senior adviser to the Director of the FBI, Robert
S. Mueller III, Chief of Staff to Director Mueller, as well as
Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Director. Ms. Monaco
also served as a federal prosecutor from 2001 to 2007, as an
Assistant United States Attorney on the Enron Task Force and in
the District of Columbia. From 1998 to 2001, Ms. Monaco served
as Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno, and from 1997 to
1998, she was Law Clerk to the Honorable Jane R. Roth, United
States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Under a procedure established in the USA PATRIOT Act
Reauthorization, and incorporated in Senate Resolution 400 of
the 94th Congress on the Committee's jurisdiction and
procedures, nominations for the position of AAG for National
Security are referred first to the Judiciary Committee and then
sequentially to the Intelligence Committee. The nomination was
reported favorably by the Judiciary Committee on May 9, 2011.
It was then referred sequentially to the Committee.
After receiving Ms. Monaco's responses to the Committee's
standard questionnaire and responses to the Committee's
prehearing questions about her understanding of the duties and
responsibilities of the office to which she had been nominated,
the Committee held a nomination hearing on May 17, 2011. Ms.
Monaco's testimony and her responses to the Committee's
questionnaire, prehearing questions, and questions for the
record are printed in S. Hrg. 112-306 and posted on the
Committee's website. Following the hearing, the Committee on
May 24, 2011, reported the nomination favorably by a vote of
15-0. The Senate approved the nomination by voice vote on June
28, 2011.
C. David H. Petraeus, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
On May 26, 2011, the President nominated General David H.
Petraeus to be the Director of the CIA. At that time, General
Petraeus was the commander of the NATO International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) as well as U.S. forces
in Afghanistan. From September 2008 until July 2010, General
Petraeus served as Commander of the U.S. Central Command.
From February 2007 to September 2008, General Petraeus was
in command of the Multi-National Force-Iraq. Before that
assignment, he commanded the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at
Fort Leavenworth, where he oversaw the development of the Army/
Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Manual, from October 2005 to
February 2007. General Petraeus also had served as Commander of
the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq and the
NATO Training Mission-Iraq from May 2004 until September 2005.
He had served a previous tour in Iraq while he was commanding
general of the 101st Airborne Division from July 2002 to May
2004.
After receiving Mr. Petraeus's responses to the Committee's
standard questionnaire and responses to the Committee's
prehearing questions about his understanding of the duties and
responsibilities of the office to which he had been nominated,
the Committee held a nomination hearing on June 23, 2011. Mr.
Petraeus's testimony and his responses to the Committee's
questionnaire, prehearing questions, and questions for the
record are printed in S. Hrg. 112-307 and posted on the
Committee's website. Following the hearing, the Committee
reported the nomination favorably on September 28, 2010, by a
vote of 15-0. The Senate approved the nomination by a vote of
94-0 on June 30, 2011.
Mr. Petraeus resigned as Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency on November 9, 2012.
D. Matthew Olsen, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
On July 5, 2011, the President nominated Matthew Olsen to
be the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).
Prior to his confirmation, Mr. Olsen was the General Counsel
for the NSA. He also served in the Department of Justice,
including as Associate Deputy Attorney General from March 2010
to July 2010, Special Counselor to the Attorney General,
Executive Director, Guantanamo Review Task Force, from March
2009 to March 2010, Acting Assistant Attorney General for
National Security from January to March 2009, and as Deputy
Assistant Attorney General for National Security from September
2006 until January 2009. From 1994 to 2006, Mr. Olsen was a
federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the
District of Columbia. During this time, he served on detail as
the Special Counsel to the Director of the FBI from May 2004
until September 2005.
After receiving Mr. Olsen's responses to the Committee's
standard questionnaire and responses to the Committee's
prehearing questions about his understanding of the duties and
responsibilities of the office to which he had been nominated,
the Committee held a nomination hearing on July 26, 2012. Mr.
Olsen's testimony and his responses to the Committee's
questionnaire, prehearing questions, and questions for the
record are printed in S. Hrg. 112-308 and posted on the
Committee's website. Following the hearing, the Committee
unanimously reported the nomination favorably on August 1, 2011
by a voice vote. The Senate approved the nomination on August
2, 2011 by a voice vote.
E. Irvin Charles McCullough, III, Inspector General for the
Intelligence Community
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
created the position of the IC IG. The position of the
Inspector General for the ODNI, created under the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, lacked the
authority to conduct investigations, inspections, audits, and
reviews to improve management, coordination, cooperation, and
information sharing among the sixteen agencies of the IC. As
stated in Section 405 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2010, the IC IG was fashioned ``to conduct
independent investigations, inspections, audits, and reviews on
programs and activities within the responsibility and authority
of the Director of National Intelligence.'' These additional
authorities were intended to help ensure that problems and
deficiencies within and across intelligence agencies would be
identified and addressed to improve the operations and
effectiveness of the IC.
On August 2, 2011, the President nominated Irvin Charles
McCullough, III, to be the IC IG. At that time, Mr. McCullough
was serving on detail from the NSA as the Deputy Inspector
General at the ODNI. From 2003 to 2010, he was the Assistant
Inspector General for Investigations at the NSA. Mr. McCullough
also served as Senior Counsel for Law Enforcement and
Intelligence in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S.
Treasury Department from 2001 to 2003. He also had been a
Special Agent with the FBI from 1991 to 2001.
After receiving Mr. McCullough's responses to the
Committee's standard questionnaire and responses to the
Committee's prehearing questions about his understanding of the
duties and responsibilities of the office to which he had been
nominated, the Committee held a nomination hearing on September
22, 2011. Mr. McCullough's testimony and his responses to the
Committee's questionnaire, prehearing questions, and questions
for the record are printed in S. Hrg. 111-309 and posted on the
Committee's website. Following the hearing, the Committee
reported the nomination favorably on October 4, 2011, by a vote
of 15-0. That same day, the nomination was referred to the
Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee
(HSGAC) under an arrangement made only with respect to the
first nominee for the IC IG position. The nomination was
discharged from the HSGAC on November 7, 2011, and Senate
approved the nomination by voice vote the same day.
V. SUPPORT TO THE SENATE
Under Senate Resolution 400, which established the
Committee in 1976, the Select Committee on Intelligence has an
important role in assuring that the IC provides ``informed and
timely intelligence necessary for the executive and legislative
branches to make sound decisions affecting the security and
vital interests of the Nation.'' The Committee fulfills this
responsibility by providing access to IC information and
officials to the U.S. Senate.
The Committee facilitated access to intelligence
information for members and staff outside the Committee by
inviting them to participate in briefings and hearings on
issues of shared jurisdiction or interest. The Committee also
provided intelligence briefings by its professional staff to
Members outside the Committee and assisted Members in resolving
issues with intelligence agencies.
VI. APPENDIX
A. Summary of Committee Actions
1. Number of meetings
During the 112th Congress, the Committee held a total of
112 on-the-record interviews, meetings, briefings, and
hearings, and numerous off-the-record briefings. These included
two joint hearings with the Senate Armed Services Committee and
one joint open hearing with the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11
attacks. There were 72 oversight hearings, including 12
hearings on the IC budget and three on legislative matters, and
five open confirmation hearings. Of these 72 hearings, seven
were open to the public and 65 were closed to protect
classified information pursuant to Senate rules. The Committee
also held 30 on-the-record briefings and meetings, and six
business meetings including mark-ups of legislation.
Additionally, the Committee staff conducted four on-the-record
briefings and interviews and numerous off-the-record briefings.
2. Bills and resolutions originated by the Committee
S. Res. 54--An original resolution authorizing expenditures
by the Select Committee on Intelligence
S. Res. 86--Recognizing the Defense Intelligence Agency on
its 50th Anniversary
S. 719--Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011
S. 1458--Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2012
S. 3276--FAA Sunsets Extension Act of 2012
S. 3454--Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2013
3. Bills referred to the Committee
S. 548--To provide for the effective interrogation of
unprivileged enemy belligerents and for other purposes
S. Res. 213--Commending and expressing thanks to
professionals of the Intelligence Community
H.R. 3523--Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act
H.R. 5743--Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2013
S. 3367--Deterring Public Disclosure of Covert Actions Act
of 2012
4. Committee publications
Rpt. No. 112-3--Report of the Select Committee on
Intelligence covering the period January 3, 2009-January 4,
2011
S. Rpt. 112-14--Rules of Procedure
Rpt. No. 112-12--Report to Accompany S. 719, the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011
S. Hrg. 112-18--Nomination of Stephanie O'Sullivan to be
Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
S. Hrg. 112-252--Current and Projected National Security
Threats to the United States
S. Hrg. 112-306--Nomination of Lisa O. Monaco to be
Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division
S. Hrg. 112-307--Nomination of General David H. Petraeus to
be Director, Central Intelligence Agency
S. Hrg. 112-308--Nomination of Matthew G. Olsen to be
Director, National Counterterrorism Center
S. Hrg. 112-309--Nomination of Irvin Charles McCullough III
to be Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
Rpt. No. 112-43--Report to accompany, S. 1458, the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Rpt. No. 112-174--Report to accompany S. 3276, the FISA
Sunsets Extension Act
Rpt. No. 112-192--Report to accompany S. 3454, the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
VII. ADDITIONAL VIEWS
1. Additional Views of Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall
This report notes that the FISA Sunsets Extension Act of
2012 was reported by the SSCI on a vote of 13-2, and approved
by the full Senate on a vote of 73-23. Both of us voted against
this bill because we believed that this law should have been
reformed, rather than simply extended, and we would not
necessarily describe it in the same terms that are used in this
report. Rather than restate our views here, we would encourage
anyone interested in understanding the debate over this law to
review the committee report that accompanied the extension bill
(Senate Report 112-174) or the Congressional Record for
December 27 and 28, 2012, the dates that this bill was debated
on the Senate floor.
Ron Wyden.
Mark Udall.
