Anna Eshoo: “I am really pleased that this critical legislation is on the floor today. This bill take some very important steps to…”

“I am really pleased that this critical legislation is on the floor today. This bill take some very important steps to increase congressional oversight of the intelligence community, which is very much needed. I would like to address two in particular that came out of the subcommittee that I am proud to chair. First, the bill creates an independent intelligence community inspector general. So many of the issues in the intelligence community cut across multiple agencies, and today there is no one who can look at all sides of these issues. This inspector general will have the dual responsibility to report to the Congress, not just to the Director of National Intelligence, increasing our oversight. Second, this bill allows the GAO to conduct audits and reviews of the intelligence community. We all know the value of the GAO's assessments firsthand. Their reputation for objective, thorough reviews is second to none. But today, the intelligence community refuses to allow GAO in the door, even when Congress has asked them to investigate.”