Intelligence Authorization Act Floor Speech- July 24, 2017

Intelligence Authorization Act Floor Speech

• Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am proud of the bipartisanship that allowed us to put this bill together.

• Our committee, which normally operates quietly, has gotten more attention than normal this year as we conduct the critical business of investigating Russian intervention in our elections.

• But we still do our day job--overseeing intelligence programs and providing support to the men and women of our intelligence community who fight to keep our country safe.

• This bill is the culmination of this cooperation.

• Our country is facing a wide array of pervasive and complex threats.

• Our near-peer adversaries, Russia and China, are rapidly growing their military capabilities and regularly, unashamedly violating international law.

• A nuclear weapons stockpile and functioning ICBM program now sit in the hands of an unpredictable North Korean dictator.

• And the so-called caliphate started by ISIS is losing ground, only to increase homegrown attacks against the United States and its allies.

• My constituents, like all Americans, are rightly concerned.

• But they can feel confident that we are working with the intelligence community on ways to address them.

• As the Ranking Member of the Emerging Threats Subcommittee, I am particularly interested in supporting our intelligence professionals who assess and prevent terrorist threats to our homeland—while protecting the civil rights and liberties of innocent Americans.

• I'm working to ensure they use their expertise, as well as that in the private sector, to find and remove online propaganda used to recruit would-be attackers.

• I'm also proud to include language that will enable the IC and private sector to temporarily exchange IT talent in order to better tackle some of the toughest cybersecurity challenges.

• Mr. Speaker, Chairman Nunes and Ranking Member Schiff have led this process with bipartisan professionalism.

• This bill is stronger because it reflects the input of all of our members.

• The full House should have this same opportunity—not be forced to vote up or down under suspension.

• Republican leadership owes it to our members to return to regular order so our bill can benefit from the input of the full House.

• I yield back.