October 5, 2001: Headlines: Languages: Linguistics: Intelligence Issues: Congressional Record: Congressman Kirk says the real reserve of linguistic abilities among tribal and less-used languages across countries is the Peace Corps (Part 3)

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Peace Corps Library: Intelligence Issues: October 5, 2001: Headlines: Languages: Linguistics: Intelligence Issues: Congressional Record: Congressman Kirk says the real reserve of linguistic abilities among tribal and less-used languages across countries is the Peace Corps : October 5, 2001: Headlines: Languages: Linguistics: Intelligence Issues: Congressional Record: Congressman Kirk says the real reserve of linguistic abilities among tribal and less-used languages across countries is the Peace Corps (Part 3)

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Congressman Kirk says the real reserve of linguistic abilities among tribal and less-used languages across countries is the Peace Corps (Part 3)



Congressman Kirk says the real reserve of linguistic abilities among tribal and less-used languages across countries is the Peace Corps (Part 3)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, let my say to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) whom I see a lot in the Committee on Rules and to the ranking member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), thank them for a very excellent legislative initiative. The American people understand the word intelligence, and I think as we have reflected on the enormous tragedy of September 11, they will be more informed about the importance of our intelligence community.

This legislation advocates the enhancement of the intelligence community. Let me thank both the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) for the new commission to find out the facts of the September 11, tragedy. Many might say that we give out too much information, but I believe this commission will help us understand better the necessity for enhanced funding, resources, technology for our intelligence community.

I had thought of offering an amendment as the ranking member on the Immigration Subcommittee to deal with seeking to promote collaborative efforts between the INS and the intelligence community. Two days ago, we in the Committee on the Judiciary passed an antiterrorism bill unanimously with a balance between the rule of law and tools for law enforcement. I believe it is important that we realize that though immigration does not equate to terrorism, it is important the INS be able to be advised on intelligence that would help them further thwart those trying to enter the country with the purpose of terrorist activities.

I hope we will have a chance to discuss that issue so that we can work together for homeland security, we can balance our committee's work and provide the necessary collaboration to secure our Nation.

I ask my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), a man who has had great experience in the intelligence business.

(Mr. SIMMONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Chairman, I commend the chair and the ranking member and the members of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for their bipartisan work on this legislation.

Specifically, I want to state my strong support for provisions in section 105 that codifies the U.S. Coast Guard as a National Foreign Intelligence Program agency under the National Security Act.

Fifteen years ago, the Coast Guard was primarily a consumer of intelligence. Now and into the future, it can be a collector, a processor and a producer as well as a consumer of intelligence. The Coast Guard is involved in counternarcotics, counterterrorism, illegal alien smuggling, maritime drug interdiction, sea enforcement of immigration laws, port security and waterways security.

The integration of the Coast Guard into the intelligence community makes them more responsive to the threats we face, and in particular, to the threats of terrorism. It also enhances the training and activities of the Coast Guard intelligence program and professionalizes their activities.

On this basis, I am very pleased to see that this bill codifies the Coast Guard as an element of the intelligence community.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Intelligence Authorization Act of FY 2002. I commend the chairman, ranking member and members of the House Intelligence Committee for their bipartisan work on this important piece of legislation.

Specifically, I would like to state my strong support for the provisions in section 105 of this bill that codifies the U.S. Coast Guard as a National Foreign Intelligence Program (NFIP) Agency under the National Security Act.

[[Page H6393]]

Mr. Chairman, I have the privilege of representing New London, CT, which is the home of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. I also serve as vice chairman of the Coast Guard Subcommittee of the Transportation Committee. These associations have introduced me to some of the unique activities of the Coast Guard.

Fifteen years ago the Coast Guard was an intelligence consumer. When I offered a course on the Intelligence Community at the Academy, I was told that it was not necessary. These circumstances are no longer the case today.

Now and into the future, the Coast Guard can be a collector, a processor, and a producer as well as a consumer of intelligence. On this basis, including the Coast Guard Intelligence Program (CGIP) into the NFIP is an important and timely initiative.

To a certain degree, the integration of elements of the Coast Guard into the Intelligence Community is a formality. The men and women of the Coast Guard have been taking part in homeland protection through the multitude of tasks; tasks that it performs better than any other agency of our Government.

The Coast Guard is involved in counternarcotics, counterterrorism, illegal alien smuggling, maritime drug interdiction, and sea- enforcement of immigration laws, port security and waterways security to name a few.

Threats to our country are met and thwarted along and off our shores every day through the diligence and professionalism of the Coast Guard. The routine activities of the Coast Guard also place it in a position to collect information, disseminate information and participate in the production of intelligence. This can be a valuable contribution to the Intelligence Community.

The integration of the Coast Guard into the Intelligence Community makes them more responsive to some of the threats we face--particularly the threat of terrorist attacks. It also enhances the training and activities of the Coast Guard Intelligence Program, and professionalizes their activities.

On this basis I am glad to see that section 105 of this bill codifies the Coast Guard as an element of the Intelligence Community.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant).

Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Chairman, it is not popular to say, but I believe America's intelligence network is very poor. Americans are now being killed by the thousands, and money alone is not going to solve it.

I think Congress must address our Mideast policy. I think we can and should support Israel, but we must be more objective in dealing with Arab nations. I believe the Palestinian issue must be resolved and the Palestinian people deserve a homeland, and that is not popular to say.

But, ladies and gentlemen, Americans are now being killed by the thousands, and we have exported through our policies the terrorism in the Mideast to the United States of America. I think it is time to tell it like it is, stop addressing the symptoms and look at the root causations. We can maintain our friendships and strong alliance with Israel, but by God we have to show objectivity in the Mideast or there will be more bin Ladens and more terrorist attacks on the United States of America.

Finally, our borders are wide open. Congress better look at that issue, because we have exposed a very vulnerable, soft underbelly.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), also knowledgeable on matters of national security.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I want to speak as a Naval Reserve intelligence officer who knows the value of linguistic abilities in intelligence. The United States Government has two large institutions dedicated to international languages used by many countries, the Foreign Service Institute and the Defense Language Institute. But the real reserve of linguistic abilities among tribal and less-used languages across countries is the Peace Corps.

I think the United States needs to develop in the national security community an ability to speak these other languages, especially obviously in Central Asia and countries where terrorist threats might emerge. This is going to require a huge effort, focusing on some of the abilities and the institutional knowledge in the Army's foreign area officer expertise. I think it is necessary for the Navy and Air Force and intelligence agencies to develop this FAO capability in other services, especially so that there is a full career path for such officers and that the United States looks to the long term.

I also want to commend the committee on the recruitment guidelines and hope that when we look to the Director of Central Intelligence, that he reports back on those guidelines early and gives the Chief of Station the ability to set the guidelines in unique circumstances.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for yielding me this time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to engage Chairman Goss in a brief colloquy on the matter of border security. The State Department has the legal responsibility to issue visas at our U.S. embassies and consulates. Over the years, we have vastly improved the process by which visas are issued. Name check systems are now computerized, allowing the consular officer at a post to have a reliable method of vetting a person's entry into the United States.

This system of name checking is only as good, however, as the information that is entered into the system. I would like to ask the chairman that in the course of the intelligence bill conference, that he work to ensure that the best cooperation is received from relevant agencies to be sure that current information is provided on a timely basis to the State Department for purposes of securing a better name check system. I would note that all 18 of the suicide hijackers were granted visas. Something is wrong and we need to fix it.

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield, I would certainly agree that the gentleman raises an excellent point with regard to the full need for cooperation among agencies for purposes of strengthening our border security programs. I will work in conference to come up with appropriate language to direct that such information sharing occurs among the intelligence agencies and the State Department so that we have the best and most secure visa issuing system possible. I will further pledge that we will try and improve the handoff between the other law enforcement agencies that are involved as well.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the distinguished chairman.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I just want to address another point in the bill that the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra) referenced, and, that is section 504, relating to official immunity for employees and agents of the United States and foreign countries engaged in the interdiction of aircraft used in illicit drug trafficking. This springs from the unfortunate, and that is a very mild word to use, shooting down of the aircraft in Peru. Under this section, the President must make an annual certification to Congress concerning both the existence of a drug threat in the country at issue and the existence in that country of appropriate procedures to protect against innocent loss of life. An annual report to Congress by the President concerning United States government assistance to such interdiction programs is also required by this section.

I call that to the attention of our colleagues, because many Members had concerns about that incident. And doing so gives another reason to acknowledge the cooperation of our chairman, the gentleman from Florida, for including this language. I recognize the gentleman from Michigan's leadership in this because his constituent was directly affected by it. I thank him for his leadership.

{time} 1030

Mr. Chairman, I did want to make a couple of remarks in closing here. This bill contains an independent review of the events leading up to September 11. I believe that as we proceed to talk about anything regarding September 11, we are walking on sacred ground. We have to proceed with great dignity to honor, and out of respect for, the losses suffered by so many.

Our entire country wants us to do everything possible to stop terrorism in our country, terrorism against our interests worldwide, and, indeed, terrorism against any target, and to stamp out terrorism wherever it exists.

I do believe that it is important in light of the horrific acts of September

[[Page H6394]]

11 that there be an independent assessment of the performance of the agencies and departments of the federal government responsible for dealing with terrorism. That assessment must be broad in scope and conducted by individuals as free as possible of the interests of the organizations they will review.

Section 306 as approved by the committee would produce those results. I will offer an amendment to address some of the concerns expressed by some of our colleagues about the breadth of jurisdiction of the commission under the amendment time. But I think it is a mistake to just proceed without an independent review of the events that happened. For that reason I thank the chairman for his support in making the commission a part of the bill, and I appreciate the Republican majority support on that.

Sensitive to the concerns raised by some on both sides of the aisle about the scope of that commission I intend to offer an amendment as a compromise.

I wanted to acknowledge and join my distinguished chairman in acknowledging the great work of the staff on both sides of the aisle, headed up by Tim Sample as the majority chief of staff and Mike Sheehy, our staff chief on the Democratic side. We are all very well served by all the staff on both sides of the aisle. We do not think of it in a partisan way.

I also want to again thank our distinguished chairman for the manner in which he conducted the markup, indeed, the business of our committee, and for his receptivity to the concerns presented by the minority side. I want to particularly commend my minority members for the valuable contributions they have made to the debate and, again, of course, the work of every member of the committee.

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

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, we have heard over the course of the last hour or so many Members talk about our intelligence needs, and especially the need to address the shortfalls related to counterterrorism. We have also heard about the need to invest in the broader areas of intelligence. It is this investment in time, thought, funding, and actually action that I would like to address as we close on our side of the general debate.

The President, his Cabinet and Members of this body have rightly told the American people that the war on terrorism is going to be a long- term effort, and that even if we were to get Mr. bin Laden tomorrow that would not put an end to terrorist activities, sadly.

Likewise, Mr. Chairman, if we only make fixes to the intelligence community to address counterterrorism capabilities, we will not fully protect our national security and other quarters from the multitude of others threats that could befall us.

In a recent classified publication called the Quadrennial Intelligence Community Review, there are some specific unclassified trends that speak to the challenges of our future. Briefly, adversaries increasingly will target the U.S. homeland; military threats will be quantitatively and qualitatively different, involving very short-notice contingencies and a very high premium on flexibility response; warning of global crisis will be more difficult by 2015 because of the scope and complexity of requirements and the speed of events; revolutionary information technology capabilities will be available to friend and to foe; and adversaries will use new, highly-effective means to select and neutralize sensitive clandestine operations or technically sophisticated collection devices. These are just a few of the kinds of challenges out there.

Mr. Chairman, all of these points go to the fact that this country will need a vibrant, flexible, and strong intelligence community.

More importantly, however, is that these points, in my view, challenge the wherewithal of our current national security structure. Therefore, in this bill we send a message to the administration that now is not the time to circle the wagons and attempt to address the issues with a status quo approach. We must take a look at whether the structure of the intelligence community can meet the challenges that we know are out there; and I believe the answer is that it cannot in its present form, and whether our overall national security apparatus needs to be updated and revised, and I believe it should, and I do not think anybody disagrees with that.

The reason that this is so important at this time is thrown into stark relief obviously by the horrible tragic events of September 11, which I agree with my ranking member, is sacred soil. The same attacks demonstrate that the issue of the safety and security of the rights and freedoms of the civilized world as a whole are at stake.

If you do not believe me, I would like you to take a moment just to take a look at this map, which shows in the red countries, those are the countries that suffered loss during the September 11 attacks. There is a lot of red on that map around the globe; and that is what I suggest, that national security is a global issue and we indeed are looked at as the leaders.

In closing, let me again thank all the members of the committee, and I mean each and every one, especially our subcommittee chairmen and the ranking members. I know it has been a lot of hard work, and we have reorganized HPSCI this year to take on the extra load.

I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) particularly for her cooperation and very sincere consideration of the provisions of this bill. The management of her side of these matters has been extraordinary.

I also want to pay special attention to our committee staff, Mr. Chairman. The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence staff is a group of very professional, very experienced, dedicated people who have gone through a great deal since September 11. They have worked literally tirelessly through weekends, nights to respond to several additional tasks that the Speaker and, of course, circumstances have placed on the committee, as well as to prepare this bill for Members' consideration, and other bills that are coming shortly on the subject of intelligence, as we all know.

This was always a bipartisan effort, and I am thankful we have such an extraordinary professional staff. I would name each and every one of them for citation for their extraordinary work, and I will put their names in the Record. I am most grateful that they work so well together and so professionally.

I also need to point out the Speaker of the House and the minority leader, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), have done an amazing job of staying tuned to what our extraordinary circumstances and being there for the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and intelligence matters when we needed them; and I must also include the appropriators, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), of course, a former member of the committee; the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), of course, a former member of the committee; the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), for the work they have done to understand our problems.

Finally, I want to pause for a moment to recognize those from the intelligence communities who lost their lives on September 11 in the service of the Nation at the Pentagon. Mr. Chairman, 15 people from the community lost their lives, seven from the Defense Intelligence Agency, seven from the Office of Naval Intelligence. They will be sorely missed by the community, and, of course, extremely missed by their families and loved ones.

It is in their honor we will push to ensure that the proper investments and changes are made to ensure that their comrades and Americans around the world can enjoy the rights, the freedoms, the securities at home and abroad. These are the symbols of the American culture, these are what we stand for, this is what we seek to protect and provide for.

The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) has expired.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, we have been joined by two distinguished Members who were in markup.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin).

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time, and just concur in the comments that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) has just made.

[[Page H6395]]

These are difficult times for our entire Nation and for the people who work in our intelligence agencies. They are at a disadvantage. When they have a victory, when they are able to stop terrorist activities here or abroad, they cannot issue a press release when they do their work successfully.

Obviously, we need to do a better job on the intelligence front for our Nation, and the legislation before us moves us in that direction and I strongly support it. We all need to do a better job, including what we do here on the Hill in providing the resources to our intelligence community.

Mr. Chairman, I just really wanted to rise to thank the men and women who give public service to this country in the intelligence field. They do public service for this Nation, they do it in a very fine way, and they need additional support. We all need to come together so that we can make this Nation a stronger Nation.

I want to thank the chairman and ranking member for the legislation they have brought forward.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this valuable time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise commending the committee in their realization that you cannot have better intelligence unless we have better linguistic training. I happen to represent what we call the language capital of the world, Monterey, California, which is the home for the Defense Language Institute, the largest language school in the world. Four thousand young men and women of every ethnic background are studying in Monterey to become linguists for our military and Federal Government.

We also have the AT&T Language Line; and many of you, if you do have any language problems, can dial up and get immediate translation on that line. We have the Monterey Institute of International Studies, which is the home for the Nonproliferation Center, which we understand is where all the dangerous material in the world is located.

This emphasis on languages is the only way we are going to better understand the world we live in and better understand the communications that go on in the world. Thank you for putting it in the report.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) has 1\1/2\ minutes remaining, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) has no time remaining.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, in the minute and a half I have remaining, I want to join our distinguished chairman in remembering those people in the defense intelligence community who lost their lives at the Pentagon, indeed all of the people who lost their lives at the Pentagon. Those of us who have had the opportunity to spend any time over there to extend the condolences of this entire Congress and of our own constituents know that the sorrow that we all experienced has moved to resolve.

I also wanted to mention John O'Neill, a former FBI special agent in charge of the National Security Division, who lost his life in the World Trade Center attack. His service is well known to many of us in the intelligence community; and we extend condolences to his family, and, indeed, to the families of all who lost their lives, whether it is in planes or in the buildings that were attacked.

There have been unimaginable acts of terrorism designed to instill fear in the American people, but the terrorists will not succeed in that. Their behavior is outside the circle of civilized human behavior, and I agree with President Bush that we will bring them to justice or bring justice to them; but justice must be done.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to have the remainder of my time be a moment of silence in honor of those that lost their lives.

The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.

Pursuant to the rule, the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the 5-minute rule by title, and each title shall be considered read.

No amendment to that amendment shall be in order except those printed in the portion of the Congressional Record designated for that purpose and pro forma amendments for the purpose of debate. Amendments printed in the Record may be offered only by the Member who caused it to be printed or his designee and shall be considered read.

The Clerk will designate section 1.

The text of section 1 is as follows:

H.R. 2883

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the

"Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002".

(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act

is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I--INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES

Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 102. Classified schedule of authorizations.

Sec. 103. Personnel ceiling adjustments.

Sec. 104. Intelligence community management account.

Sec. 105. Codification of the Coast Guard as an element of the

intelligence community.

TITLE II--CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM

Sec. 201. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE III--GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 301. Increase in employee compensation and benefits authorized by

law. Sec. 302. Restriction on conduct of intelligence activities.

Sec. 303. Sense of the Congress on intelligence community contracting.

Sec. 304. Requirements for lodging allowances in intelligence community

assignment program benefits. Sec. 305. Technical amendment.

Sec. 306. Commission on September 11 government preparedness and

performance.

TITLE IV--CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

Sec. 401. Modifications to Central Intelligence Agency's central

services program. Sec. 402. Extension of CIA Voluntary Separation Pay Act.

Sec. 403. Guidelines for recruitment of certain foreign assets.




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Story Source: Congressional Record

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Languages; Linguistics; Intelligence Issues

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