Unifying DHS Intelligence Enterprise Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2453) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Intelligence Rotational Assignment Program in the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Homeland Security currently has nine designated component intelligence programs with trained analysts who could benefit from an authorized, better organized rotation program. In order to truly develop homeland security intelligence expertise, the DHS has to develop and expand programs to cross-train their broad cadre of analysts.

One of the major lessons we learned from the September 11 terror attacks was the vital need to connect the dots by sharing information across analytical silos and across agencies. The bill we are considering today builds upon this foundation by authorizing a rotation program for intelligence analysts across the Department.

Having served as an intelligence analyst in the Marine Corps and in the intelligence community, including at the National Counterterrorism Center and the Drug Enforcement Agency, I know firsthand the value of analysts gaining experience in different mission areas and broadening their analytical skills.

H.R. 2453, the DHS Intelligence Rotational Assignment Program Act of 2017, supports the effort to develop an integrated workforce of analysts that will ultimately develop a homeland security intelligence expertise. The bill authorizes the Intelligence Rotational Assignment Program, or IRAP, and directs the Department to promote and reward participation.

There is an existing IRAP, but based on oversight efforts over the past year, it is clear the DHS needs a more integrated, coordinated, and transparent rotation program. For example, numerous intelligence components are not aware of the IRAP's existence, and it is not being coordinated with other rotational programs offered by the Department or the intelligence community at large.

Moreover, a recent joint inspector general review involving IGs from the intelligence community, the DHS, and the Department of Justice specifically referenced the creation of the IRAP as an important step to help unify the DHS intelligence enterprise, but noted the lack of incentives to encourage participation in this initiative. So this legislation seeks to address these shortcomings by authorizing the IRAP and providing the program with a management structure and participation incentives.

Having a robust analyst rotation program is important for a number of reasons. First, it offers key professional development opportunities to analysts by exposing them to the legal authorities, collection capabilities, and data sets associated with different intelligence offices across the DHS. It also is an important building block in the development of homeland security intelligence as a core competency above and beyond individual mission areas at the Department.

Finally, the IRAP enhances the cohesion of the DHS intelligence enterprise by exposing intelligence analysts to their counterparts in one of the eight other intelligence components, thus encouraging them to see themselves as part of the larger DHS intelligence enterprise.

In short, this bill promotes a more robust intelligence analyst rotation program to ensure the Department is building a network of employees with a true homeland security intelligence expertise.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will make the country more safe. I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on

Intelligence,

Washington, DC, September 8, 2017.

Hon. Michael McCaul,

Chairman, House Committee on Homeland Security, Washington,

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for her hard work, and I, once again, urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2453, to bolster the Department of Homeland Security's Intelligence Analyst Program and, thereby, strengthen the DHS intelligence enterprise.

Additionally, I want to thank Chairman Nunes and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for working with the Committee on Homeland Security to bring my bill, as well as H.R. 2468, offered by Representative Perry, and H.R. 2470, offered by Representative Rogers, to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2468) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a homeland intelligence doctrine for the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, 16 years ago, an unprecedented attack against the United States revealed immense gaps in how the United States approached domestic security and information sharing. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security was established to consolidate 22 existing Federal agencies and reshape the domestic intelligence and counterterrorism structure in the United States.

Over the years, DHS has matured and refined its Intelligence Enterprise, or what we know as DHS IE. Even now, however, the Department has struggled to fully unify the various intelligence offices within the component agencies. This has limited the value DHS provides to the intelligence community and its State and local partners. Disparate guidance for the intelligence components within DHS undermines the Department's ability to fully utilize important data and conduct analysis.

DHS needs to follow the model of many other members of the intelligence community and produce an intelligence doctrine that clearly articulates roles and priorities across the DHS Intelligence Enterprise. The lack of this internal structure reflects a painful legacy from the pre-9/11 era in which bureaucracies operated as silos and were poorly coordinated.

H.R. 2468 empowers DHS to address this continued failure. By requiring the Department to produce guidance to all its components on the processing, analysis, production, and dissemination of information and intelligence, this bill helps to professionalize the DHS Intelligence Enterprise. Such a doctrine will guide how operational information from across DHS is incorporated into a wider strategic Homeland Security picture. This will increase the use of Department- specific information in its analytic products and processes.

H.R. 2468 also takes another step in strengthening the Department's Intelligence Enterprise by formalizing the Department's existing support for the DHS Chief Intelligence Officer, or the CINT. Though the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, or the I&A, serves as the Department's Chief Intelligence Officer, these two roles carry different statutory authorities and distinct missions.

Therefore, Congress should support both functions by authorizing staff support for the CINT. H.R. 2468 does not authorize new hiring but, rather, reauthorizes the Department's existing staff assignment and, most importantly, makes those assignments permanent.

It is now time to hold the Department accountable for developing a common foundation among members of the Department's Intelligence Enterprise. By requiring DHS to produce these guidelines and by ensuring the Department's leadership is properly and reliably supported, H.R. 2468 helps us to work to fulfill the promises made to the American people 16 years ago: Never again.

I am very pleased the text of H.R. 2468 was included in the larger DHS authorization bill, which passed this very House in July. I urge my colleagues to support the standalone measure to improve the quality of DHS' analytical

products and help the Department better serve the intelligence community and its State and local partners.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I once again urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2468, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my friend's bill, H.R. 2453, the DHS Intelligence Rotational Assignment Program Act of 2017.

Mr. Speaker, 16 years ago, Americans were jarred by the spectacle of the mighty Twin Towers collapsing and fires at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field. The perpetrators of the attacks sought to bring the United States to its knees. While, without question, a deep wound that may never fully heal was inflicted on the heart of this Nation on that day, we remain strong and resolute.

We emerged from that devastating experience more determined and with lessons learned about the need for better information sharing, interoperability, and coordination.

One major reform was the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security as a multimission agency, which today has 240,000 men and women serving in a range of capacities at our land, air, and seaports, as well as in the field, working to protect critical infrastructure from cyber and other attacks.

The DHS Intelligence Rotational Assignment Program Act seeks to provide DHS employees with the opportunity to do a rotational assignment within the DHS' Intelligence and Analysis division.

By establishing this program, officers and analysts across the DHS who have a passion for keeping our Nation secure would be provided the opportunity to develop or broaden their intelligence and counterterrorism skills. Organizations with such programs find that they yield benefits far beyond what the individuals who participate learn.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my House colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2453 was overwhelmingly approved by the Committee on Homeland Security. The rotational program that it authorizes has the potential to not only provide some dedicated DHS employees a boost in morale and fresh perspective on the mission, but also to enrich DHS' contributions to the intelligence enterprise.

Mr. Speaker, as such, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 2453, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2468, the Unifying DHS Intelligence Enterprise Act of 2017, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this measure seeks to help safeguard our Nation's homeland security information. Specifically, it requires the Department of Homeland Security to develop and distribute Departmentwide guidance on the proper procedures for handling and sharing information related to homeland security and terrorism.

The 9/11 Commission Report found that the U.S. Government did not fully share or pool intelligence information prior to the attacks. In response, policies and procedures were reformed at all levels to ensure that critical national security information is properly shared.

Intelligence sharing is critical to terrorism prevention, but it must be carried out in a manner that ensures that sensitive information is properly handled and distributed. H.R. 2468 seeks to do just that.

The bill requires the establishment of rules and regulations for the dissemination of such information both within DHS and with homeland security stakeholders at the State and local levels as well as in the private sector.

I urge my House colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2468 has strong support on both sides of the aisle. Effective security measures to improve our intelligence systems and mechanisms are critical to the mission of protecting the homeland.

I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) for his work on this important legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following exchange of letters:

House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on

Intelligence,

Washington, DC, September 8, 2017.

Hon. Michael McCaul,

Chairman, House Committee on Homeland Security, Washington,