[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.
____________________
