Eric A. "Rick" Crawford

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the millions of professional truck drivers who serve the American public each and every day.

Truck drivers transport billions of dollars' worth of goods across our country, delivering essential products that Americans rely on every day. These men and women are the backbone of our Nation's economy. Without their dedication and tireless work, our communities would not have access to the goods and services they depend on.

These drivers have committed their careers to serving others and ensuring that our Nation's supply chain continues to move. However, that responsibility does not come without its fair share of challenges. Truck drivers face long hours on the road, time away from their families, demanding work conditions, and the constant responsibility of safely delivering the goods our Nation depends on.

These challenges are felt by truckers across our country, including the thousands of hardworking men and women who call Arkansas home. I want to applaud the associations in my state and across our Nation that represent the needs of truck drivers. Associations such as the Arkansas Trucking Association advocate every day on behalf of these men and women and the trucking companies that employ them. Their work has helped make Arkansas a national hub for trucking.

I also want to acknowledge the thousands of trucking companies and their drivers based in Arkansas for the hard work they do for my constituents. Companies such as J.B. Hunt and Maverick Transportation employ hardworking drivers who help deliver goods not only throughout Arkansas, but the entire Nation.

As Vice Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I am proud to be a champion of several key pieces of legislation this Congress aimed at strengthening the trucking industry, improving safety, and making sure our Nation's truck drivers are heard and supported. I will continue to advocate for our truckers and their needs.

As we recognize these hardworking men and women during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, we must remember that our economy depends on them. Without our truck drivers, our economy would come to a standstill, our shelves would go empty, and our communities lose access to the goods they rely on every day.

I want to thank the millions of truck drivers across our country, and especially those who call Arkansas home, for keeping America moving.

Mr. Chair, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee for his hard work, as always.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the budget resolution. First off, I want to thank Chairman Arrington and the members of the Budget Committee for producing this budget.

Republican Members of Congress, working closely with President Trump, are the only ones serious in Washington about attacking wasteful Federal spending.

As chairman of the Intelligence Committee, I am fighting waste, fraud, and abuse in the classified budget.

HPSCI Republicans are working to force the intelligence community to achieve clean financial audits, and we are working to create a culture of accountability.

In my opinion, there can be no doubt that this administration is also serious

about going after waste, fraud, and abuse. The screaming from the other side of the aisle is proof that this is the case. The flak is always heaviest when you are directly over the target.

Democrats oppose this budget, and they oppose every action of this House because they want unelected Washington officials to be in charge until President Trump's term expires. Obstruction is their priority because their porkbarrel spending has been exposed and their slush funds are being drained.

To fight their obstruction, we need a budget resolution. We need to stand united as a Republican Conference so that we can have a functioning government.

We need to empower the running of the executive branch by the President the American people elected.

The resolution doesn't include everything each of us might ask for, but it is necessary to keep us moving forward. And I urge all Members to support the resolution.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record the budget views and estimates letter of the House Intelligence Committee.

House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on

Intelligence,

June 5, 2026.

Hon. Jodey Arrington,

Committee on the Budget,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Chairman Arrington: Pursuant to Section 301(d) of the

Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and rule X, clause 11(c) of

the Rules of the House of Representatives, and in response to

your letter dated May 7, 2026, the Permanent Select Committee

on Intelligence (hereafter ``the Committee'') herewith

provides its views and estimates for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027.

In your letter to the Committee, you requested information

on policy reforms related to improper payments and we have

identified specific proposals within our jurisdiction that we

believe directly relate to the detection of improper

payments, as well as measures needed to improve financial

accountability across the Intelligence Community.

You have also asked us to examine spending to determine if

savings are possible. There is a single program within the

Committee's jurisdiction that falls within the category of

mandatory spending. It is the Central Intelligence Agency

Retirement and Disability System (CIARDS). The CIARDS, which

was established in 1964 and is authorized at $514 million

annually, is a retirement account that has been closed to new

participants for more than 40 years.

The Committee has requested a Government Accountability

Office (GAO) review of CIARDS to ensure its financial

integrity and operational efficiency. Should any potential

for savings be identified, we will pursue them. At this time,

we believe annual appropriations remain necessary at their

current level to provide earned benefits to retirees.

The rest of the classified budget of the Intelligence

Community is authorized in two large programs--the National

Intelligence Program (NIP) and the Military Intelligence

Program (MIP), which are funded through annual discretionary

spending. The NIP includes the budgets of the Office of the

Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence

Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency,

the National Reconnaissance Office, the intelligence

components of the military services (Air Force, Army, Marine

Corps, Navy, Space Force) and the intelligence components of

the Departments of Energy, Homeland Security (including Coast

Guard), Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of

Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration), State,

and Treasury. The MIP provides additional funding to support

specific requirements of the military services and combatant

commands.

While detailed funding levels for FY 2027 remain

classified, the topline budget requests for both the NIP and

MIP have been publicly released. The total funding requested

for the NIP is $81.9 billion, which is unchanged from the

prior year request. The MIP budget request is $50.0 billion,

which is an increase of $17.0 billion or 34 percent from the

prior year request.

Improving Congressional Oversight of the Classified Budget

By longstanding policy, the Congress has agreed to

authorize, and fund classified intelligence programs without

disclosing to the public the specific funding amounts or

nature of such programs or activities to protect the national

security of the United States. To support the classified

budget, complex mechanisms within the executive branch have

long been leveraged to enable the development, execution, and

performance evaluation of the secret budget and to protect

the classified programs of the Intelligence Community from

discovery by foreign adversaries. Over time, congressional

leaders have sought to balance the need for secrecy with the

need for appropriate financial controls and reporting.

The National Security Act of 1947 prohibits the

Intelligence Community from spending federal funds on any

intelligence or intelligence-related activity unless

specifically authorized by Congress and, when authorized,

only according to the conditions specified by Congress. Each

year, the congressional intelligence committees of the House

and Senate pursue passage of the Intelligence Authorization

Act to provide this required authorization. The most recent

authorization was enacted in December of 2025 as part of the

National Defense Authorization Act. Additionally, there are

statutory requirements for the Intelligence Community to keep

congress fully and currently informed, to submit classified

budget justification materials, and to conduct independent

financial audits.

In 2022, amendments to the National Security Act sponsored

by the Committee clarified that the Director of National

Intelligence must ensure that the programs and activities of

the Intelligence Community are structured and executed in a

manner that enables budget traceability. Statutory changes

also sought to align the Federal Bureau of Investigation's

intelligence budget, as well as those of other intelligence

programs, with the National Intelligence Strategy and the

requirements specified in the National Intelligence

Priorities Framework. Alignment is necessary to improve

accountability and to implement performance measures tied to

requirements established by the President.

However, despite existing statutory requirements, the

Committee continues to identify challenges in oversight of

the secret budget, including a heightened risk of waste,

fraud, abuse, or mismanagement. These challenges stem from

insufficient budget documentation, as well as inadequate

financial systems and related controls. To further improve

oversight and accountability of the budget, the Committee

will be considering legislation clarifying current law to

ensure that the classified budget justification submitted

under section 506J of the National Security Act provides full

and accurate budget documentation (including full and

accurate cost information) for each program, project, and

activity. Proposed changes will also prohibit the withholding

of budget information from the congressional intelligence

committees absent a specific national security determination

by the President--a determination that must be transmitted to

Congress.

Enactment of these changes to law will assist the Committee

in resolving longstanding challenges to congressional

oversight of the budget, most notably the budgets of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation and certain highly classified

programs of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Committee

will also be examining additional changes to ensure that the

development, execution, and performance evaluation of the

classified budget can occur with appropriate levels of

security in compliance with laws and policies necessary to

ensure transparency and accountability.

Financial Management

The Committee is also seeking to address the fact that only

one element of the Intelligence Community has achieved an

unmodified or ``clean'' financial audit. Independent audits

of the classified budget have been a requirement under the

National Security Act since 2014. While the Committee

acknowledges ongoing efforts to achieve auditable finances,

we have noted a longstanding failure by the Intelligence

Community to pursue business system modernization,

transformation and integration required since 2010.

The Government Accountability Office initially documented

the transformation and integration failure in 2018 and

continues to affirm that no significant actions have been

undertaken to achieve the policy established by law.

Modernization and integration are necessary to improve

confidence in the accuracy of the classified budget, to

support budget accountability and to protect the continued

secrecy of classified programs. For this reason, the

Committee will pursue changes to statute clarifying

responsibility for action and will prioritize investments

necessary to achieve the required transformation.

Publicly Available Information and Commercially Available Information

The Committee is also seeking to better understand and to

more effectively conduct oversight related to the acquisition

and use of publicly available information (PAI) and

commercially available information (CAI) across the

Intelligence Community. PAI and CAI are large and growing

centers of expenditure within the classified budget and are

increasingly central to intelligence analysis, strategic

warning, economic security, sanctions enforcement, military

planning, and strategic competition. However, the Committee

has found that budget justification materials submitted to

Congress provide limited visibility into this spending.

A number of efforts are being undertaken by the Committee

to improve budget documentation and related financial

reporting related to PAI and CAI expenditures. This includes

examination of changes to law that would expand enterprise

governance and safeguarding measures for sensitive

commercially available information, particularly datasets

that may contain United States person information.

Accountability Within the Intelligence Community

While there is no indication of pervasive fraud or abuse

associated with the classified budget, it is critical that

those found to have

committed crimes face justice. However, the Committee has

learned that there is a substantially lower likelihood of

prosecution of fraud that occurs within the Intelligence

Community. As of 2025, the Department of Justice pursued only

25 percent of the Intelligence Community Inspector General's

criminal referrals.

In the coming months, the Committee will consider the

extension of law enforcement authority to the Inspector

General of the Intelligence Community with the objective of

increasing successful prosecution rates. Such authority has

been granted to other inspectors general across the U.S.

Government and has merit based on the unique challenges

associated with investigations into personnel affiliated with

classified programs.

Spending Increase Needed to Address Counterintelligence Threats

While reforms are needed to address budget transparency,

financial reporting, and accountability, the Committee cannot

ignore the growing threats associated with foreign

intelligence activities within the homeland. The magnitude of

threats to national and economic security associated with

foreign adversaries and their proxies operating within the

homeland, and against our interests globally, is greater

today and more complex than at any time during the Cold War.

The Committee has determined that--

Foreign intelligence penetrations consistently outpace the

ability of the current counterintelligence enterprise to

detect threats and to act on a strategic level to impose cost

and deter adversary operations.

The United States lacks a sufficiently funded and

coordinated, national-level strategic response to the

counterintelligence threats posed by the People's Republic of

China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries.

To address these problems, the Committee will consider

enhanced budget authority to enable the National

Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) to coordinate

the integration of all instruments of national power to

protect the homeland to counter foreign intelligence

activities. This is a critical statutory responsibility of

the NCSC, which has not been sufficiently funded.

The Committee will also consider options to provide

additional budget authority across the U.S. Government to:

(1) enhance the counterintelligence workforce of Federal

departments and agencies; (2) support programs and

operational activities to achieve national strategic outcomes

(undertaken under the authority and direction of the various

departments and agencies, including those in partnership with

State, local and tribal governments); (3) support the

construction, expansion or modernization of Sensitive

Compartmented Information Facilities to support interagency

cooperation (including with State, local and tribal

governments); (4) support research and development of

counterintelligence capabilities and tradecraft to address

the strategic threats and opportunities associated with

advanced technology; and (5) to support the modernization of

technical security countermeasures capabilities across the

government.

Additional information concerning the counterintelligence

budget will be provided via appropriate channels to protect

classified information. In addition, the Committee is

prepared to work with you to provide the Budget Committee

with the information necessary to understand current threats,

which we believe justifies our recommendation for additional

funding.

Critical Investments in Artificial Intelligence

The final matter on which the Committee will share its

views is related to the rapid advancement of artificial

intelligence. The Committee agrees with the President's

declaration that the United States is in a race to achieve

global dominance in artificial intelligence and supports

additional spending authority to meet this important

challenge.

The Intelligence Community must make investments, pursuant

to the strict oversight of Congress, in recognition of the

dramatic shifts that are occurring in artificial

intelligence. However, absent additional budget authority for

the rapid fielding of capabilities--capabilities emerging

within the commercial marketplace today--there is a risk that

the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense will be

outpaced by adversaries, most notably China.

To be clear, this is not a problem of innovation in

America, which is leading in this critical field. Instead, we

see a serious problem associated with the adoption of this

technology by those charged with protecting the national

security of the United States. Specific information

concerning artificial intelligence investments planned by the

Intelligence Community in FY 2027 is classified and can be

made available separately.

Conclusion

In the coming months, the Committee will consider statutory

changes to improve oversight and accountability with respect

to the classified budget. We will also work to ensure budget

authority is appropriate to address unprecedented and growing

threats, particularly threats associated with foreign

adversary operations within the homeland and the rapid

advancement of artificial intelligence.

Thank you for your support as we work to bring these issues

forward in the House. If you or the Members of the Budget

Committee have any questions about the views and estimates

expressed in this letter, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Eric A ``Rick'' Crawford,

Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate all the support of the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true leader, public servant, and a pillar of our community, city of Carlisle Police Chief Eric Frank, who is retiring after more than 42 years of service.

He has served as an EMT, a Carlisle police officer, and as the department's chief for the past 25 years. That is a quarter of a century of leadership and a lifetime of sacrifice for the people of Arkansas' First District.

Chief Frank has been the backbone of public safety in Carlisle as demonstrated by his leadership in recent years through the challenges of the pandemic and during devastating storms.

In 2023 when severe weather took lives in Carlisle, he provided decisive leadership, coordinating with State agencies and always putting the safety of residents first.

Whether launching drug take-back programs, advancing child safety, or handling day-to-day work, Chief Frank approached every duty with the same unwavering commitment.

On behalf of the grateful people of Arkansas' First District, I thank Chief Frank for his service, his integrity, and his dedication. He has served with distinction, and I am proud to be his Congressman.