Schakowsky Statement on the Intelligence Bill

SCHAKOWSKY STATEMENT ON THE INTELLIGENCE BILL

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, entered the following statement into the Congressional Record today in support of H.R. 5959, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives with unanimous support.

"Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5959, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. As a member of the Intelligence Committee, I am gratified that we were able to strengthen and improve America's intelligence capabilities, while also addressing many of the problems that have damaged our credibility throughout the world.

It is ironic that the President has threatened to veto this legislation for the very same reasons that I support it. This bill contains a number of important provisions to promote accountability and oversight, including language that I added in Committee prohibiting the interrogation of detainees by contract personnel. As you know, bringing accountability and transparency to contracting is a priority of mine, and I strongly believe that private security contractors should not be used to perform inherently governmental functions.

The President has argued that use of a contractor with specific skills and experience may be necessary to conduct an interrogation. However, this legislation specifically provides a waiver authority in cases where no member of the federal government is available and capable of performing such an interrogation.

Our country is contracting with private companies that employ individuals who do not wear the badge of the United States but whose behavior has, on numerous occasions, severely damaged the credibility and security of our military and harmed our relationship with other governments. This legislation takes the important step of prohibiting these private employees, who are not subject to the same standards of accountability as government employees, from conducting some of the most sensitive work of our intelligence community.

The President has also opposed the other important oversight and accountability provisions in this legislation. The bill creates a new Inspector General for the Intelligence Community, a move opposed by the President, with the authority to inspect, audit, and investigate activities of the Intelligence Community. The President has also objected to new requirements that the full Intelligence Committee receive reports on covert action programs. This legislation also requires that 75% of the funds for these programs will be withheld until the committee is briefed.

As the elected representatives of the American people, members of Congress have the responsibility to monitor the uses of taxpayer dollars. I am pleased that the Chairman has agreed to work with me, as this bill moves forward, to ensure that tax dollars are not being spent on private contractors who are involved in violations of American or international law. I am disappointed, however, that the President has chosen to oppose provisions that begin to restore a degree of accountability to the process of gathering and processing intelligence.

While this legislation deserves our support, I would also like to recognize a key provision, absent from this bill but included in the Senate's version, which would require all intelligence agencies to comply with the U.S. Army Field Manual on interrogations.

The Army Field Manual is unclassified and explicitly prohibits waterboarding, use of hoods, electric shocks, and mock executions. The Army has voluntarily adopted these restrictions upon itself. We must now make sure that the same rules apply to the Intelligence Community.

I am not alone in this thinking. Consider the advice of General David Petraeus, who said in a May 2007 memo to members of the Armed Forces in Iraq that the Army Field Manual allowed intelligence officials to get the information they need. According to General Petraeus, "our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations that was published last year shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting information from detainees....

I am supporting this legislation because it will provide our intelligence community with the tools they need to protect our nation, while also implanting vital provisions to promote accountability and oversight. I hope that the President will not stand in the way of this strong bill.

Thank you, Madam Speaker."