Bob Kerrey: “I rise to describe a bill which has not attracted much attention this year, the intelligence authorization bill for…”

“I rise to describe a bill which has not attracted much attention this year, the intelligence authorization bill for fiscal year 1996. This year the intelligence bill is not the venue for controversies over the foreign policy issues or levels of national security spending, but it is an important piece of legislation nonetheless. Much has been written about the Presidential Commission and congressional and private sector studies underway to redefine and reorganize the intelligence community. Few have noted that no matter what the outcome of all this discussion, the actual intelligence community, with its real and serious continuing requirements to keep our leaders informed and our military warned, must be budgeted and guided to do its job. This bill provides the budget authorization and the priorities our intelligence professionals need for the year ahead. The bill attempts to fix the imbalance between collection, which we have a great deal of, and processing, where we see shortfalls. The bill supports efforts to track the transnational targets, threats like terrorism, weapons proliferation, and narcotrafficking, which are directed against us from many countries. The bill acknowledges the indispensable role of intelligence in monitoring the arms control treaties we entered into, and it funds the systems which provide that intelligence.”