Susan Collins

Ms. COLLINS

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business for debate only with Senators speaking for up to 10 minutes each.

Ms. COLLINS

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, shortly we will resume consideration of S. 2845. I am very hopeful that we will be able to clear an amendment that has been pending for some time. I know that the Senator from Ohio wishes to speak in opposition to Senator Byrd's amendment, which is the first amendment that we will vote on later this afternoon at 4:15. Until the Senator from Ohio arrives, which will be very shortly, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. COLLINS

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I have a series of amendments that have been cleared on both sides of the aisle. I ask unanimous consent that the list of amendments that I send to the desk be agreed to with the modifications agreed to where indicated.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, let me commend you for your leadership in presiding this evening. I realize it has been a very long evening and the Senator has been in the Chair for a long time. Amendments Nos. 3722, as Modified, 3757, as Modified, 3762, as Modified, 3778, as Modified, 3814, 3818, 3825, 3832, 3833, as Modified, 3836, 3841, 3859, as Modified, 3860, 3867, as Modified, 3901, 3910, as Modified, 3923 en bloc

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I join the Senator from Connecticut and the Senator from Nevada in their compliments of the Senator of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I do very much appreciate that he was so willing to come forward early last week and offer the first amendments. I regret that objection on both sides of the aisle prevent us from accommodating him this evening.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I call up amendments Nos. 3895 and 3896, and further I send a modification to No. 3895 to the desk.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments be set aside so I may call up two amendments on behalf of the majority leader.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Alabama. I do have two brief matters to deal with and then I would be glad to figure out where our order is. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Arizona, Mr. McCain, be added as a cosponsor to the underlying bill, S. 2845.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I do not yet know the answer to the question raised by the Senator from Illinois. It is very thoughtful of him. I offer to withhold. I was going to debate a little bit further with Senator Warner, but perhaps we have covered that to death and should wait until tomorrow to conclude our comments. I ask through the Chair, could the Senator tell me how long he wishes to speak?

Ms. COLLINS. Reserving the right to object, I am unaware of what these three amendments are. We have a lot of requests for other amendments to be brought up. I wonder if the Senator would withhold so that I could talk with him about what the three amendments are. Senator Durbin was actually next in line.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, first let me clarify that we did what the 9/11 Commission recommended with regard to these agencies. We did not sever their connection to the Secretary of Defense. The Senator from Virginia is well aware of that. He is well aware that I opposed attempts to sever the connection with the Secretary of Defense. The Senator from Virginia is well aware that the Secretary of Defense would continue to have day-to-day line authority supervision over these agencies. The second point I make is there is nothing in this bill that would in any way hinder the ability of the NGA to provide much needed maps for our troops. That is just not going to happen. The satellites that are used to produce these maps for the military are also used for surveillance of international terrorism or compliance with proliferation treaties. They are used to look at camps in Afghanistan. These are national assets that are used by multiple agencies, and the bill reflects that. That is why the majority of the budgets for these agencies are already part of the National Foreign Intelligence Program--what we would rename as the National Intelligence Program. The majority of the budget finances are already part of not JMIP, not TIARA, but what is known as NFIP. That would not in any way hinder the ability of these agencies to meet their obligations to the Department of Defense and to our warfighters.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I would point out that the amendment of the distinguished Senator would require that the Secretary of Defense agree to the movement of any asset from the JMIP or TIARA budget to the National Intelligence Program budget. I want to make sure my colleagues realize that the White House opposes giving the Secretary of Defense a veto over what can be moved from JMIP or TIARA to the new National Intelligence Program. I apologize for talking in acronyms in describing this. As you know, the tactical intelligence programs are the TIARA programs that are run by the various services within the Department of Defense. The JMIP is the Joint Military Intelligence Programs. I note we have tried to strike a delicate balance in this bill. We decided, and so I joined the Senator from Virginia, to defeat an amendment that would have moved the NSA, the NGA, the NRO out of the purview and daily supervision of the Secretary of Defense. We were cognizant that the NSA and the NGA provide direct support to the warfighter. The underlying legislation, however, does strike a delicate balance. We give the national intelligence director control over the budgets, the tasking of national assets, and certain personnel authorities, while leaving those agencies under the day-to-day supervision of the Secretary of Defense. I think that is the right balance. Keep in mind, when we talked to the head of the NSA, the three-star General who runs that agency, he told us that he has more contact with the CIA than he does the Secretary of Defense; that he is providing national intelligence everyday beyond the needs of the Pentagon. That is not in any way to lessen the important role he is providing to our warfighters, to the combat commanders, to the Secretary of Defense. But these are national assets. Indeed, while I can't disclose the amounts of the budgets or the exact percentages because they are classified, the majority of the budgets for these agencies are already in the National Foreign Intelligence Program budget. I understand the point of the Senator from Virginia. As always, I am happy to try to work with him. I know Senator Levin has some amendments in this area that may bring further clarity. But I am concerned about the scope of his amendments.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, if I could respond through the Chair to the inquiry of the Senator from Virginia, the bill makes very clear that any intelligence assets that are principally for joint military operations or for tactical intelligence stay within the Department of Defense. Now, there may be national intelligence assets that are now included within the Joint Military Intelligence Program that could be transferred to the national intelligence program. The tactical assets are clearly just under the control of the Secretary of Defense, but some of the JMIP assets are national, so that is why the bill is worded as it is with the word ``principally.''

Ms. COLLINS. Yes, please do.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I suggest that the Senator from Virginia go ahead and present his amendments. Amendments Nos. 3874 and 3875, en bloc

Ms. COLLINS. Thank you, Mr. President. That is my intent. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. COLLINS. I certainly will. If the Senator wants to proceed--

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I very much appreciate the courtesy of the Senator from Virginia. I would like to suggest that we have a brief quorum call so we can try to have some order. We have several requests on both sides of the aisle to proceed on amendments. I need to compare notes with the Democratic manager of the bill.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I again thank the distinguished chairman for working very closely with the floor managers on this amendment. It provides thoughtful clarifications to the establishment of an analytic review unit under the Collins-Lieberman bill. I believe the changes made by this amendment would strengthen the bill. I urge its adoption.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Intelligence Committee for working very closely with us in proposing this amendment which combines portions of several other amendments that he has introduced. It clarifies that the mission of the national intelligence authority includes eliminating barriers to the coordination of all intelligence activities, including but not limited to counterterrorism. It appropriately ensures that the congressional intelligence committees will receive reports relating to the acquisition authorities of NSA and NGA. It provides that the NID may directly modify budget proposals made by agencies as part of the national intelligence program. I appreciate how closely the chairman has worked with Senator Lieberman and me. I am pleased to support the amendment, and I urge its adoption.

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that that amendment be temporarily laid aside.

Ms. COLLINS. I move to reconsider the vote.