HR-6393 : Still Just a Bill

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

This bill authorizes FY2017 appropriations for the conduct of intelligence and intelligence-related activities of:

• the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI);
• the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA);
• the Department of Defense;
• the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA);
• the National Security Agency (NSA);
• the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force;
• the U.S. Coast Guard;
• the Departments of State, the Treasury, Energy, and Justice;
• the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
• the Drug Enforcement Administration;
• the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO);
• the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA); and
• the Department of Homeland Security.

The bill also authorizes FY2017 appropriations for: (1) the Intelligence Community Management Account, (2) the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability Fund, and (3) the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

The ODNI must submit a five-year investment strategy for outreach and recruiting efforts in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that includes cybersecurity and computer literacy. Higher minimum pay rates may be established for positions that require STEM expertise.

The bill establishes an executive branch interagency committee to counter active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence over peoples and governments. It places travel restrictions on personnel and consulars of the Russian Federation in the United States.

The ODNI must implement a uniform policy to ensure the independence of inspectors general of the intelligence community, the ODNI, the CIA, the NSA, the DIA, the NGA, and the NRO. Inspectors general must report directly to Congress when an employee's urgent concern involving classified information or false statements appears credible.

The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive is redesignated as the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, with a director to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The bill also revises or sets forth requirements for:

• the ODNI to participate in fundraising events for nonprofit organizations that support intelligence community employees and their families;
• CIA employee death and retirement benefits;
• publication of the logos of terrorist organizations;
• space-based environmental monitoring missions and acquisition programs to meet national security requirements for cloud characterization and theater weather imagery;
• an evaluation of aerial imagery technologies that can be used to share intelligence with other countries as a replacement for the current regime of observation flights;
• a declassification review of intelligence reports regarding past terrorist activities of detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and
• a concept for a combined interagency space operations center and an updated strategy for national security satellite systems.