Dutch Ruppersberger: “First, I rise in support of H.R. 754, the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2011. The men and women in the military…”

“First, I rise in support of H.R. 754, the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2011. The men and women in the military and intelligence community who helped locate al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden exemplify the extraordinary courage and skill of those who work tirelessly to keep our community safe. They should be commended for a job well done. But our fight against terrorism is not over. We have severely weakened al Qaeda, but we must remain vigilant as we work to eliminate this threat. I believe that it's our responsibility to give our intelligence professionals the resources, capabilities, and authorities they need to do their jobs successfully. The Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2011 has thousands of civilian positions above the level enacted in FY 2010 and above the level of people currently on board. This includes counterterrorism positions at the CIA and a large increase in personnel at the National Counterterrorism Center, the NCTC. The bill also adds hundreds of millions of dollars for intelligence above current levels. In response to the Web site WikiLeaks, the bill includes an insider threat detection program that automatically monitors unauthorized access to classified information. The way Congress conducts effective oversight of the intelligence community is by passing an Intelligence authorization bill to give the intelligence community budgetary direction.…”