CQ Roll Call - Panel Backs Intelligence Authorization That Seeks Report on Hunt for bin Laden
The panel backed, by voice vote, the measure (HR 1892) that would authorize classified funding for 16 U.S. intelligence agencies and intelligence-related activities of the U.S. government. The recently passed 2011 intelligence authorization bill (HR 754) was estimated to authorize just over $80 billion.
“The way Congress conducts effective oversight of the intelligence community is by passing an intelligence budget. This bill does this and ensures our intelligence professionals have the resources, capabilities and authorities they need to keep our country safe,” said the panel's ranking member, Democrat C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland.
Few details of the bill were available, but an amendment, offered by Mike Thompson, D-Calif, was adopted by voice vote calling for the bin Laden study.
Thompson's amendment would require the director of the CIA to work in consultation with other agencies involved in the raid to provide a report for the intelligence community that details the events leading up to the discovery of bin Laden's hideout.
“It's a huge issue, and because it was such a covert operation, I was afraid that some of the facts might be lost or distorted,” said Thompson. “I just wanted to make sure there was an accurate report for future generations, for scholars, for policy makers.”
Thompson said the amendment does not weigh in on if the report should be classified.
This bill, as amended in the nature of a substitute, does identify the amounts authorized for the Intelligence Community Management Account of the director of national intelligence and for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Retirement and Disability Fund â€" $590.3 million and $514 million, respectively.
The amended bill also includes language to allow the CIA director to provide up to $15,000 in burial benefits for employees killed in the line of duty. The need for such an allowance was identified after several CIA operatives were killed by a suicide bombing at a base in Khost, Afghanistan, in December 2009.
“The bill coming out of the committee today ensures that we provide proper burial services for our intelligence agents who make the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country,” said panel Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
The measure also would allow the CIA director to notify employees of how they might donate gifts to injured colleagues or families of fallen operatives.
Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., found support for an amendment that would require a report on training standards needed for the intelligence workforce.
The bill would mandate the development of a strategic plan on combating drug trafficking operations on public lands, and a study on whether airspace restrictions are hampering the Homeland Security department's use of unmanned aerial vehicles along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Committee leaders say approving the bill on the heels of the House passing its 2011 authorization is a sign of the priority the panel places on passing a measure annually to exert its authority.