Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Holds a Hearing On Congressional Notification

Political Transcript Wire › October 30, 2009

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Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Holds a Hearing On Congressional Notification

HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS AND SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT, HOLD A HEARING ON CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION

OCTOBER 27, 2009

SPEAKERS: REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY, D-ILL. CHAIR REP. ANNA G. ESHOO, D-CALIF. REP. JOHN F. TIERNEY, D-MASS. REP. PATRICK J. MURPHY, D-PA. REP. C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, D-MD. REP. MIKE THOMPSON, D-CALIF. REP. ADAM B. SCHIFF, D-CALIF. REP. DAN BOREN, D-OKLA. REP. RUSH D. HOLT, D-N.J. REP. SILVESTRE REYES, D-TEXAS EX-OFFICIO

REP. JEFF MILLER, R-FLA. RANKING MEMBER REP. SUE MYRICK, R-N.C. REP. WILLIAM M. "MAC" THORNBERRY, R-TEXAS REP. MIKE ROGERS, R-MICH. REP. ROY BLUNT, R-MO. REP. JOHN KLINE, R-MINN. REP. K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, R-TEXAS REP. PETER HOEKSTRA, R-MICH. EX-OFFICIO

WITNESSES: ROBERT LITT, GENERAL COUNSEL, OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

[*] SCHAKOWSKY: I call this meeting to order.

Today we will examine how the intelligence community honors and implements its legal obligation to keep Congress informed about intelligence activities.

This hearing is part of the full committee's investigation into the intelligence community's compliance with the National Security Act.

This is a combined hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and the Management Subcommittee chaired by Congresswoman Eshoo.

Under the National Security Act, the executive branch is required to keep the committee, quote, "fully and currently informed of any of the intelligence activities" unquote, of the United States, including any, quote, "significant anticipated intelligence activity," unquote, and covert actions.

These requirements are critical. The executive branch's intelligence activities are secret and the American people rely on the congressional intelligence committees to scrutinize them. They rely on this committee to make sure that those activities are consistent with the nation's best interests and values.

The committee is, in the truer sense, the people's representative when it comes to secret intelligence activities.

For the committee to perform these vital functions, the committee must receive -- and the executive branch must provide -- truthful, complete, and timely information. If this does not occur, Congress cannot adequately perform its constitutional obligation to authorize and appropriate money for intelligence activities.

In recent years, various members of the committee, from both sides of the aisle, have expressed concern that the intelligence committee -- community has failed to provide the committee with full and complete information.

Recent revelations have raised yet more questions about whether the intelligence community has violated the National Security Act.

Last week, the Intelligence Community Management Subcommittee held a hearing focused on the National Security Act's provisions that require the executive branch to keep the committee informed about intelligence activities. That hearing was an important step in the committee's investigation.

Today's hearing represents another important step. For the National Security Act to be effective, the executive branch must properly implement and enforce it.

We need to understand how the intelligence community carries out this obligation, whether its notification policies give rise to past notification failures and what it is now doing to make sure that the committee is kept fully and currently informed.

In particular, I look forward to hearing about the ODNI's current review of the intelligence community's notification policies.

To discuss these matters, we will hear from Robert S. Litt, the general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

While Mr. Litt has only been on the job for several months now, he joined the ODNI after an already distinguished legal career, which has included time as a senior Justice Department official and as a partner at one of Washingt...

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