H.R. 5223: National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004

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H.R. 5223: National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004

108th Congress · introduced 2004-10-05 · Crime and Law Enforcement · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman.

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Official title

National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004

Plain summary

National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 - Establishes as an independent executive entity the National Intelligence Authority (Authority), headed by a National Intelligence Director (Director), to, among other things: (1) unify and strengthen efforts of the intelligence community (IC); (2) operate the National Counterterrorism Center and national intelligence centers; and (3) establish clear responsibility and accountability for counterterrorism and other intelligence matters relating to U.S. national security. Requires the Director to: (1) serve as the head of the IC; (2) advise the President on intelligence related to national security; (3) direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (formerly the National Foreign Intelligence Program); (4) determine the annual budget for intelligence and intelligence-related activities; and (5) establish standards for information technology and communications across the IC. Authorizes the Director to establish and train a National Intelligence Reserve Corps for the temporary reemployment on a voluntary basis of former IC employees during periods of emergency. Establishes within the Authority, with specified functions: (1) the Reserve for Contingencies of the National Intelligence Director; (2) an Office of the National Intelligence Director; (3) a principal Deputy National Intelligence Director (second in command); (3) a National Intelligence Council (Council) (to provide national intelligence estimates for the U.S. Government and evaluate the collection and production of intelligence by the IC); (4) a General Counsel; (5) a Comptroller General; (6) an Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; (7) a Privacy Officer; (8) a Chief Information Officer; (9) a Chief Human Capital Officer; (10) a Chief Financial Officer; (11) an Inspector General; and (12) an Ombudsman. Establishes a National Counterterrorism Center (Center) to: (1) unify strategy for U.S. civilian and military counterterrorism efforts; and (2) integrate counterterrorism intelligence and operations across agency boundaries, both inside and outside the United States. Establishes within the Center a Directorate of Planning with primary responsibility for developing interagency counterterrorism plans. Authorizes the Director to establish one or more national intelligence centers to address intelligence priorities established by the Council. Requires the Director to establish the Intelligence Community Scholarship Program for the award of scholarships designed to recruit and prepare students for civilian careers meeting critical IC needs. Directs the President to establish an information sharing network to promote the sharing of terrorist information among all relevant Federal departments and agencies, State, tribal, and local authorities, and private entities. Establishes an Advisory Council on Information Sharing. Prohibits the 108th Congress from adjourning until jurisdiction over proposed legislation and other matters relating to: (1) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is consolidated into a single committee in each House with a nonpartisan staff; and (2) intelligence resides in a joint committee or a committee with combined authorization and appropriation authority, with a subcommittee devoted solely to oversight. Requires specified reports from the President to Congress concerning, among other things: (1) terrorist sanctuaries; (2) efforts to support Pakistan; (3) aid to Afghanistan; (4) the U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship; (5) a strategy to help win the struggle of ideas within the Islamic world; (6) U.S. policy toward dictatorships; (7) the promotion of U.S. values through broadcast media; (8) proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and (9) efforts to curtail the international financing of terrorism. Directs the President to establish an International Youth Opportunity Fund to provide financial assistance for the improvement of public education in the Middle East. States U.S. policy concerning the humane treatment of prisoners. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to submit to Congress a: (1) strategy for combining terrorist travel intelligence, operations, and law enforcement into a cohesive effort to intercept terrorists, find terrorist travel facilitators, and constrain terrorist mobility both domestically and internationally; and (2) plan describing how DHS and the State Department can acquire and deploy, to all consulates, ports of entry, and immigration benefits offices, technologies that facilitate document authentication and the detection of potential terrorist indicators on travel documents. Directs the Secretary to develop plans: (1) for a comprehensive integrated screening system; (2) to accelerate the full implementation of an automated biometric entry and exit data system for preventing the entry of terrorists; (3) to expedite the processing of registered travelers who enter and exit the United States through a single registered traveler program; and (4) to require biometric passports and other secure identification for all travel into the United States by U.S. citizens and individuals for whom immigration and nationality documentation requirements have previously been waived. Directs the Secretary to develop, implement, and revise as necessary a National Strategy for Transportation Security for the protection from terrorist or other hostile acts of all transportation infrastructure assets. Requires the use of watchlists in connection with passenger air transportation screening. Directs the Secretary to allocate homeland security assistance grants to communities based on threat levels, presence of critical infrastructure, population density, and other criteria. Calls for adoption by all appropriate entities of the Incident Command System (a national, coordinated emergency response system developed by the National Incident Management System). Authorizes specified officials of the National Capital Region to enter into, provide, or request from other Region entities mutual aid assistance for emergency services related to an emergency or public service event. Directs the Secretary to: (1) encourage and support the establishment of consistent and effective communications capabilities in high risk urban areas; (2) establish a program to promote private sector preparedness; (3) undertake certain critical infrastructure readiness assessments; and (4) regularly assess the adequacy of the United States Northern Command to respond to all military and paramilitary threats within the United States. Establishes within the Executive Office of the President a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Shays, Christopher [R-CT-4] · 1 cosponsors

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Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-108hr5223.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/108/hr>

Record fed-us-cong108-hr5223 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong108 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong108