The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) is a 235-page Act of Congress, signed by President George W. Bush, that broadly affects United States federal terrorism laws. The act comprises several separate titles with varying subject issues. It was enacted in response to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

Overview

This act established the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

The IRTPA requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take over the conducting of pre-flight comparisons of airline passenger information to Federal Government watch lists for international and domestic flights. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) developed the Secure Flight program and issued rulemaking to implement this congressional mandate. Airline personnel will have the right to demand government-issued ID be shown if ordered by the TSA to do so, but those orders are to remain confidential, so there is no oversight as to when the airline has been ordered to request ID and when they are requesting it on their own imperative.

Background

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 was originally introduced in the Senate in response to the findings of the 9/11 Commission. The commission, established to prepare a report on the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, published its final report in July 2004 including a list of recommendations to overhaul United States intelligence agencies and practices. S. 2845 was developed as a response to the commission's findings and implemented some of its major recommendations.

Legislative history

S. 2845 was introduced by U.S. senator Susan Collins of Maine on September 23, 2004. The Senate approved the bill, 96–2, on October 6 of the same year and it was sent to the House. After debate, the House approved the bill, 282-134, with an amendment and passed it on October 16. The bill was sent to a conference to merge the House and Senate versions and the Conference Report was agreed to on December 8 (House 336-75, Senate 89-2). President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on December 17, 2004. The drafting of the legislation was led by Andrew Weis, senior council and advisor to Senator Collins.

Senate floor

Debate on S. 2845 began on September 27, 2004. As many as 300 amendments were proposed, though most were negotiated by the bill sponsors and the amendment proposers behind the scenes to convince them to withdraw or ruled out of order.

Notable floor actions

Source:

  • The Senate voted 93-4 to table a Specter amendment that would have given the DNI a 10-year fixed term. The idea was that having a fixed term would increase the position's independence from the president.
  • The Senate voted 78-19 to table a Specter amendment intended to give the DNI more power over intelligence agency operations, including the Pentagon's day-to-day activities.
  • The Senate voted 62-29 to table a Byrd amendment that would have restricted the DNI's budget authority and the power to transfer personnel and funds.
  • The Senate voted 55-37 to table a Stevens amendment that would have deleted language requiring disclosure of the overall intelligence budget from the bill.
  • The Senate agreed to the McCain amendment 97-0, adding Title VII of S. 2774 to increase transportation security.
  • The Senate agreed to the Hutchison amendment 96-0 to provide for air cargo safety.
  • The Senate agreed to the Roberts amendment 98-0 to maintain the applicability of section 504 of the National Security Act of 1947 in relation to fund appropriations for United States intelligence and intelligence-related activities.
  • The Senate agreed 96-2 to the bill on October 6, 2004.

House floor

Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert introduced H.R. 10 to the floor as the House version of the intelligence overhaul bill on October 7, 2004 to be considered alongside S. 2845. H.R. 10 was passed 282-134 on October 8.

Notable floor actions

  • On October 16, 2004, the House struck the enacting clause from S. 2845 and inserted H.R. 10, passing the bill the same day.

Title I established the position of the director of national intelligence (DNI), the National Counterterrorism Center, and the National Counter-Proliferation Center.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI)

The director of national intelligence is responsible for heading the United States intelligence community. The DNI acts as the principal intelligence advisor to the president, Homeland Security, and the National Security Council, as well as direct the National Intelligence Program. The position's duties include intelligence sharing between government branches and federal agencies, managing the national intelligence budget, and managing intelligence personnel.

National Counterterrorism Center

The National Counterterrorism Center's objectives are to act as a centralized government organization for terrorism and counterterrorism intelligence, conduct strategic planning, and share information between intelligence agencies.

National Counter-Proliferation Center

The National Counter-Proliferation Center was established to analyze and integrate intelligence regarding proliferation, share intelligence across agencies, create a central repository of proliferation activity intelligence, and coordinate and conduct counter-proliferation activities.

Title II: Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI was required to create a career path for domestic intelligence work within the agency to promote collection and analysis of intelligence. The title also developed a Reserve Service of former FBI agents to be called upon in case of a national emergency under the discretion of the FBI director.

Title III: Security clearances

The president was required to denote a single department or agency to be responsible for overseeing security clearances, which could be transferred between agencies to reduce repetitive processing.

Advocacy groups for families of the 9/11 victims blamed President Bush and House Republicans for the intelligence bill being stalled in Congress. They accused Bush of allowing members of the Republican party to derail the legislative process and named Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert as a responsible party for the bill's stagnation. The Family Steering Committee released a statement saying they were "angry and saddened that the opportunity for significant reform of our country's intelligence structure has been squandered." The group Families of September 11 also came out saying that the legislators not helping to push the legislation through the House would be held accountable by voters in the upcoming election.

Response

Upon the IRTPA's passage in the Senate, President Bush released a statement calling it a historic piece of legislation that would defend America and help to protect its people from terrorism. The public response was also positive, particularly from the families of 9/11 victims who had supported the bill, however some members of Congress remained skeptical. The two senators who had voted against passing the bill, Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) and James M. Inhofe (R-OK), came out against it, expressing their regret that it had passed so quickly and without stricter provisions against illegal immigration.

See also

  • United States Joint Intelligence Community Council

References

  • Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
  • Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 as enacted (details) in the US Statutes at Large