Porter Goss

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, this evening I had to depart early for a previously scheduled meeting. As a result, I was not able to be present for rollcall votes 10, 11, and 12. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote 10, ``nay'' on rollcall vote 11, and ``yea'' on rollcall vote 12.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time to consider the conference report to accompany H.R. 4628; that all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration be waived; and that the conference report be considered as read.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the unanimous consent request, I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 4628) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2003 for intelligence and intelligence- related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present the conference report for the fiscal year 2003 intelligence authorization bill. I believe that hard work and careful deliberation have produced a comprehensive bill that funds the critically important work of our intelligence community. Mr. Speaker, the events over the past year remind us just how critical the intelligence community work is. As has been the longstanding custom of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, this conference report is a bipartisan product which reflects admirably on our committee's members and its highly professional staff. I want to thank all involved. Because of the late hour of the evening, I am not going to enumerate all of the staffers and members, but I think all of them will take satisfaction in knowing that we have had a good year. At this point, I would like to mention one other important issue. With the conclusion of this conference, the committee will lose the talents of several valued members: the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), who led our Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, and put out actually the first report on the counterterrorism situation; the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), who led our Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence and has dealt with some of the more challenging problems that confront the Committee on Intelligence; the gentleman from California (Mr. Condit) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) on the minority side, who have been heavily involved in some of the issues we will be talking about later; and in particular, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our esteemed ranking member. She will graduate, I am told, to ex officio status. It will be a fine graduation. We know she is nearby when we need her. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) has made a significant contribution to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence work during her 10 years of service on the committee. Most notable, however, has been her determination to work collectively to rebuild and reenergize our Nation's intelligence capabilities after the September 11 attacks. She has been willing to work energetically and efficiently in a fashion that puts national security first before politics or partisanship. I say to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), or Madam Leader, soon to be, we thank her very much for her efforts. This conference report authorizes funds for fiscal year 2003 intelligence-related activities, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System. I want to take a very short moment to highlight several provisions of the report for the consideration of the Members. First, the bill includes several provisions designed to strengthen our Nation's fight against international terrorism, including a cross-agency foreign terrorist asset-tracking center to identify and disrupt terrorist financial support networks. I am pleased to report we have had some success at disruption, and I look forward to more. It also establishes an ongoing notification procedure to assure timely congressional oversight of national security-related financial enforcement actions by the executive branch, something that we have had a lot of discussion about. Other initiatives of note are several provisions intended to enhance the language-training capacity within intelligence and defense agencies to combat our language shortfalls; again, something that has been a pet project of our committee for a number of years. The bill will enhance the training capacity by establishing a flagship language initiative within the National Security Education Program. The third area of focus is to strengthen the capacity of the national counterterrorism executive within the Office of the Directorate of the CIA. Several recent espionage cases, most notably the Aldrich Ames case, the Robert Hanssen case, the Ana Montes case, require that we place greater efforts in assessing our counterterrorism vulnerabilities with respect to hostile intelligence services, let alone terrorist-type activity that affect our men and women in the service, even on our own shores, as we are reminded tonight with the matter involving Mir Aimal Kasi. This legislation recognizes the concern that insufficient attention has been given to the area of counterterrorism. Finally, I wanted to commend all involved for their diligent work on reaching a compromise on the creation of an independent commission. It shows the American people that we can work together to reach consensus. Sometimes it takes a little longer than we hoped, but usually we get there. Mr. Speaker, I barely scratched the surface regarding the many issues and investments contained in this bill that go toward protecting our national interests. As we all know, much of it is classified. The only way to be ready to address the diverse threats to our security, both at home and abroad, is by having a vibrant first line of defense, as the President has said, that provides indications and warning. This first line of defense has to start with our intelligence community, and we have to give them the support and the oversight necessary to do that job. This conference report directly helps to strengthen our capabilities, put them on target, and ensures the protection of our rights and liberties, now and in the future. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter), the vice chairman of the committee and the chairman of the subcommittee that fuses capability and policy, a very challenging job these days. (Mr. BEREUTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), a very valued member of our committee and well known to the Members of this body.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that we always have in the intelligence community many options and many things to consider; and while we do it on a bipartisan basis, we do not always agree on what are the best ways to proceed when you are dealing with some very complex questions of national security. Part of the richness of the judgment of our committee, I think, is we do have many perspectives, and we have heard some of them here tonight. I think that bodes well for our institution. I would also, in addition to thanking the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) for his persistence and commitment to the idea of where we go next from the Joint Committee with our review process, like to underscore that other Members have been very helpful in the breakthrough. Certainly Members of the other body as well, but I want to thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss) in particular, who has been referred to already as the gentleman who led with the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security effort, which was very important and a landmark piece for our work. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss) was also a man who was instrumental in the breakthrough on the compromise that we came through on the independent commission. So I think that he is owed a special thanks for that. For the family groups, the survivors of 9-11, Stephen Push and Kristin Breitweiser and so forth, we referred to them and spent hours talking to them, I suppose, collectively between all of us. We all know that we have a responsibility, and I totally agree with my distinguished ranking member about the hallowed ground involved. I do not suppose a day has gone by since 9-11 that I and other members of our committee and perhaps all of us in the room have not thought, is there something we missed? Should we have known? Did we fail in our oversight? Did something go wrong? Was there a smoking gun? Did we somehow fail the American people? Were we derelict in our duty? I can honestly look Kristin Breitweiser and Stephen Push or anybody else in the eye and say I know of no such failure. I know of collectively a lot of things we could have done better, but I see nothing yet that leads me to a smoking gun. This year we have joined with the other body in doing a very intense review of the 9-11 event. It is not over. We will be issuing a report and that will lead to further efforts. That is appropriate. We will see where that takes us. The question still needs to be asked and will continue to need to be asked, did we miss something? Did we do our oversight right? I hope the next commission on oversight, on the 9-11 review, will in fact come back to the congressional oversight and find out if we did our job properly. I think we are accountable on these committees. I am certainly prepared for that, and I would love the opportunity to answer questions and give the point of view of the committee, because I am very proud of the effort that our committee has put into that. But it does not mean we have all the wisdom or judgment in the world. Besides that review, we have tried very hard to make sure we understand the nature of the threat we are fighting in the war on terrorism and anthrax and propaganda and all the other miscreants that we deal with now on the basis of whether they are terrorists or violators of law. We are not quite sure, but they need to be stopped in their tracks. So we are fighting a global war, and we have got men and women out there taking risks, taking chances, doing hard work and sometimes, sadly, getting killed. Those people we owe a responsibility to. The oversight and the advocacy role of our committee is on their behalf as well, to make sure they have the tools, the training, the capabilities they need to do their job, to protect all of us and to make sure in this very specialized area of intelligence they are operating in bounds, because we have promised the American people, our constituency, that we will make sure that we never violate our pledge to the American people that we will not spy on the American people. We will preserve our liberty. So we take that very seriously as well. Then I think we come to the next question, and that is the question of catching the perpetrators of 9-11. Certainly we have not got them all, and certainly we have learned in the past 48 hours or so that Osama bin Laden himself may still be alive. This is ongoing. It will require patience, and it will require commitment. I would thank the members of the committee, the members of the staff and all who have helped us in that commitment, because that commitment remains before this body. On behalf of the American people, I urge support for this very important bill.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the conference report. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4628 and the conference report just considered and passed.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend on the Committee on Rules, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) who I enjoy working with very much, particularly on this very critical piece of legislation, and I congratulate him for his floor management. This is obviously a rule that we should all be able to support. It is an appropriate rule and this institution has been through this subject recently rather completely, and it seems to me that we should be able to deal with this apace. This is the historic homeland security legislation that we have been waiting for and the American people have been asking for. Certainly in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, our great Nation has showed its very steadfast resolve to confront and defeat terror. Every day we pick up the papers and we see examples of Americans dealing with these problems on a global basis. We have an awful lot of men and women out there in uniform and in other agencies doing the hard work of winning the war on terrorism. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security will further bolster this effort. Coordination, cooperation, communication will be improved and, as we have discovered, are areas where we need improvement. Daily operations will grow stronger. Alertness will be better. The agents responsible for the security of our citizens will be more effective. All of these things will directly flow from this legislation and more. The Department of Homeland Security will finally allow us to direct some long overdue attention to the problems faced by our immigration system. We live in a hospitable, open and democratic society and we are all extraordinarily proud of it and defend it. It is our liberty. We welcome the orderly flow of immigration and we always have. But regrettably, there are many who take advantage of our generosity by engaging in illegal immigration. Our borders must be protected. Our citizens have asked us to do that, and I believe that this Homeland Security Department will be organized in a way that will help us better deal with the immigration subject in a way that meets the requirements of all Americans and protects our borders from mischief makers. While this legislation makes great strides towards organizing the protection of our homeland, I believe a considerable amount of work is still going to remain, primarily in the intelligence area. Specifically, I believe there is insufficient provision in this legislation as we have set it up for intelligence consolidation, fusion and analysis. I believe an intelligence analysis center would facilitate the interface of intelligence between agencies that are not very good at it now, thereby increasing reaction speed in a way that could prove critical, and we saw what critical means on September 11, 2001. Obviously, let me be clear, I very much support the legislation. It is long overdue. It will vastly improve our Nation's defenses, and it obviously is a critically important component on the war on terror, particularly for our homeland where we live. I am pleased to see that the necessary and overdue legislation is about to become a reality. If for no other reason for a lame duck session, I think we have found something that the American people are going to cheer about. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) for yielding me time.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time on the legislative day of Wednesday, October 16, 2002, for the Speaker to entertain a motion that the House suspend the rules relating to S. 1533.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. GOSS

Mr. GOSS. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. GOSS. Would the Speaker explain the rotation in the time allotments just announced?

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham), a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Callahan). (Mr. CALLAHAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (Mr. LaHOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Science and a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (Mr. BOEHLERT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire about the division of time.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (Mr. BURR of North Carolina asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (Mr. CHAMBLISS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham). (Mr. LATHAM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Everett), a distinguished member of the committee.