[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 122 (Wednesday, July 19, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4083-S4084]



 SENATE RESOLUTION 222--DESIGNATING JULY 26, 2017, AS ``UNITED STATES 
                    INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONALS DAY''

  Mr. WARNER (for himself, Mr. Burr, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Risch, Mr. 
Wyden, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Collins, Mr. King, Mr. Blunt, Mr. 
Manchin, Mr. Lankford, Ms. Harris, Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Cornyn) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 222

       Whereas on July 26, 1908, Attorney General Charles 
     Bonaparte ordered newly-hired Federal investigators to report 
     to the Office of the Chief Examiner of the Department of 
     Justice, which subsequently was renamed the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation;
       Whereas on July 26, 1947, President Truman signed the 
     National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), 
     creating the Department of Defense, the National Security 
     Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Joint 
     Chiefs of Staff, thereby laying the foundation for today's 
     intelligence community;
       Whereas the National Security Act of 1947, which appears in 
     title 50 of the United States Code, governs the definition, 
     composition, responsibilities, authorities, and oversight of 
     the intelligence community of the United States;
       Whereas the intelligence community is defined by section 3 
     of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003) to 
     include the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 
     the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security 
     Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National 
     Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance 
     Office, other offices within the Department of Defense for 
     the collection of specialized national intelligence through 
     reconnaissance programs, the intelligence elements of the 
     Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Coast 
     Guard, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug 
     Enforcement Administration, and the Department of Energy, the 
     Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the Department of 
     State, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the 
     Department of the Treasury, the elements of the Department of 
     Homeland Security concerned with the analysis of intelligence 
     information, and other elements as may be designated;
       Whereas July 26, 2017, is the 70th anniversary of the 
     signing of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 
     et seq.);
       Whereas the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention 
     Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458; 118 Stat. 3638) created the 
     position of

[[Page S4084]]

     the Director of National Intelligence to serve as the head of 
     the intelligence community and to ensure that national 
     intelligence be timely, objective, independent of political 
     considerations, and based upon all sources available;
       Whereas Congress has previously passed joint resolutions, 
     signed by the President, to designate Peace Officers Memorial 
     Day on May 15, Patriot Day on September 11, and other 
     commemorative occasions, to honor the sacrifices of law 
     enforcement officers and of those who lost their lives on 
     September 11, 2001;
       Whereas the United States has increasingly relied upon the 
     men and women of the intelligence community to protect and 
     defend the security of the United States in the years since 
     the attacks of September 11, 2001;
       Whereas the men and women of the intelligence community, 
     both civilian and military, have been increasingly called 
     upon to deploy to theaters of war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and 
     elsewhere since September 11, 2001;
       Whereas numerous intelligence officers of the elements of 
     the intelligence community have been injured or killed in the 
     line of duty;
       Whereas intelligence officers of the United States are 
     routinely called upon to accept personal hardship and 
     sacrifice in the furtherance of their mission to protect the 
     United States, to undertake dangerous assignments in the 
     defense of the interests of the United States, to collect 
     reliable information within prescribed legal authorities upon 
     which the leaders of the United States rely in life-and-death 
     situations, and to ``speak truth to power'' by providing 
     their best assessments to decision makers, regardless of 
     political and policy considerations;
       Whereas the men and women of the intelligence community 
     have on numerous occasions succeeded in preventing attacks 
     upon the United States and allies of the United States, 
     saving numerous innocent lives; and
       Whereas intelligence officers of the United States must of 
     necessity often remain unknown and unrecognized for their 
     substantial achievements and successes: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates July 26, 2017, as ``United States 
     Intelligence Professionals Day'';
       (2) acknowledges the courage, fidelity, sacrifice, and 
     professionalism of the men and women of the intelligence 
     community of the United States; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

                          ____________________



[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 131 (Wednesday, August 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4718]


              UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONALS DAY

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 
222 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 222) designating July 26, 2017, as 
     ``United States Intelligence Professionals Day.''

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. WARNER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 222) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in the Record of July 
19, 2017, under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, for several years now I have regularly 
come to this floor to publicly acknowledge the contributions made by 
our great Federal employees. This is a tradition I inherited from one 
of our former colleagues, Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware. Senator 
Kaufman, who had been a longtime staffer himself before he served as a 
Senator, would come to this floor on a regular basis to acknowledge and 
celebrate the tireless work and occasional heroics performed by many of 
our Federal employees. When Senator Kaufmann left this body, I gladly 
picked up that mantle and since then have come to the floor to draw 
attention to the extraordinary contributions of many of our Federal 
workers.
  Over the past few years, this recognition has included a Social 
Security executive who eliminated a claims backlog to more quickly meet 
the urgent needs of thousands of Social Security recipients with grave 
terminal illnesses. We have also celebrated the work of a Department of 
Homeland Security official who saved taxpayers $750 million by 
streamlining her agency's procurement processes, and we proudly 
highlighted the work of a group of engineers at NASA Langley Research 
Center in Virginia, who, in 2010, designed a capsule that proved to be 
crucial in saving the lives of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped 
underground.

  Too often, our Federal workers are disrespected and demeaned by those 
who would attempt to use them as scapegoats for all that is allegedly 
wrong here in Washington. In reality, thousands of our Nation's 
dedicated civil servants work tirelessly every day to make our 
government work for and by the people.
  Today, I wish to focus for a moment on one such group of outstanding 
Federal employees--those who work across our Nation's intelligence 
agencies to keep our Nation safe. Most of these professionals work in 
anonymity. Many risk their lives far away from the limelight. That is 
how it should be, for they are sworn to secrecy, even from their 
families and loved ones.
  Over the last decade and a half, our intelligence professionals have 
increasingly been deployed overseas into war zones and other high-
threat environments. Regrettably, some have made the highest 
sacrifice--laying down their lives for their country.
  For their service, the risks they take and the sacrifices they make 
every day and because they do not hear this nearly enough, let me say 
``thank you'' to the intelligence community.
  As a Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, I am proud to 
represent thousands of current and former members of the intelligence 
community who live, work, or retire in our great State. I am also proud 
to represent these individuals in my current capacity as vice chairman 
of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
  My colleagues and I on the committee have again submitted a 
resolution that marks July 26 as ``United States Intelligence 
Professionals Day.'' It was on that day 70 years ago that President 
Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which laid the 
foundation for today's U.S. intelligence community. It was earlier in 
my statement that we passed that resolution. In recent years, our 
committee has had success, as we try to protect our intelligence 
community, with greater intelligence sharing and interoperability and 
because of investments in people and systems.
  Many challenges remain--from the constant barrage of leaks to the 
security of the supply chain, to outdated processes for security 
clearances. I hope that this year's intelligence authorization bill 
will begin to address some of these issues.
  Yet today it is the people in the intelligence community whom I want 
to acknowledge--their professionalism, their dedication to duty and 
country, their silent service, their sacrifices.
  The men and women of the Nation's intelligence agencies deserve our 
respect and our thanks. They do not deserve to be belittled, 
disrespected, or threatened, and certainly not from their Commander in 
Chief.
  To the men and women of the intelligence community--these great 
Federal employees--I conclude with this: We, simply, do not say it 
enough, but thank you for your service. Thank you for your dedication, 
and thank you for the great work you do--often unheralded.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________