Search Results

Satellite Surveillance: Domestic Issues
This report provides background on the development of intelligence satellites and identifies the roles various agencies play in their management and use. Issues surrounding the current policy and proposed changes are discussed, including the findings of an Independent Study Group (ISG) with respect to the increased sharing of satellite intelligence data. There follows a discussion of legal considerations, including whether satellite reconnaissance might constitute a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment; an overview of statutory authorities, as well as restrictions that might apply; and a brief description of executive branch authorities and Department of Defense directives that might apply. The report concludes by suggesting policy issues Congress may consider as it deliberates the potential advantages and pitfalls that may be encountered in expanding the role of satellite intelligence for homeland security purposes.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Comparison of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 3773 and the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 3773
This report provides an overview and review of legislative activity related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). It also includes a detailed side-by-side comparison of the proposals to address FISA concerns: Senate Amendment to H.R. 3773 and the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 3773.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report explores the various issues currently facing Congress in regards to intelligence and counterterrorism activities, including the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (P.L. 108-458), signed in December 2004; the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which that act created; the importance of collaborative efforts between various intelligence agencies to successfully carry out counterterrorism measures; and other pieces of legislation relevant to such matters.
Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Current Structure and Alternatives
This report first describes the current select committees on intelligence and then the former Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, often cited as a model for a counterpart on intelligence. The study also sets forth proposed characteristics for a joint committee on intelligence, differences among these, and their pros and cons. The report, to be updated as events dictate, examines other actions and alternatives affecting congressional oversight in the field.
Digital Surveillance: The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
This report provides a brief overview of the communications assistance for Law Enforcement Act.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: An Overview of the Statutory Framework and U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review Decisions
This report discusses the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, and other related amendments that were included in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002.
Intelligence Spending: Public Disclosure Issues
This report describes the constituent parts of the intelligence budget, past practice in handling intelligence authorizations and appropriations, the arguments that have been advanced for and against making intelligence spending totals public, a legal analysis of these issues, and a review of the implications of post-Cold War developments on the question. It also describes past congressional interest in keeping intelligence spending totals secret.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.
Protection of Security-Related Information
No Description Available.
Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006: S. 3931 and Title II of S. 3929, the Terrorist Tracking, Identification, and Prosecution Act of 2006
No Description Available.
Homeland Security Intelligence: Perceptions, Statutory Definitions, and Approaches
Although the activities involved in homeland security intelligence (HSINT) itself are not new, the relative importance of state, local, and private sector stakeholders; the awareness of how law enforcement information might protect national security; and the importance attached to homeland security intelligence have all increased substantially since the events of September 11, 2001. This report provides a potential conceptual model of how to frame HSINT, including geographic, structural/statutory, and holistic approaches. Given that state, local, tribal, and private sector officials play such an important role in HSINT, the holistic model, one not constrained by geography or levels of government, strikes many as the most compelling. The report argues that there is, in effect, a Homeland Security Intelligence Community (HSIC). While this community may not necessarily be a useful construct from a management perspective, it is nevertheless a community as traditionally defined. Although the HSIC’s members are diffused across the nation, they share a common counterterrorism interest.
Department of Veteran Affairs: Information Security and Information Technology Management Reorganization
On May 3, 2006, the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data analyst was burglarized, resulting in the theft of a laptop computer and an external data storage device that was reported to contain personal information on more than 26 million veterans and United States military personnel. The VA Secretary testified that he was not informed of the incident until May 16, 2006, almost two weeks after the data had been stolen. VA publicly announced the theft on May 22. On June 29, VA announced that the stolen laptop computer and external hard drive had been recovered intact and that, based on a forensic examination conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the files on the external hard drive had not been compromised.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
To address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century, congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. In December 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was signed, providing for a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with substantial authorities to manage the national intelligence effort. Making cooperation effective presents substantial leadership and managerial challenges. International terrorism in particular presents a difficult analytical challenge. Counterterrorism requires the close coordination of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, but there remain many institutional and procedural issues that complicate cooperation between the two sets of agencies.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report includes information regarding intelligence issues for Congress. The intelligence community, ongoing congressional concerns, and issues in the 109th Congress are among topics discussed in this report.
Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records: Legal Authorities
This report summarizes statutory authorities regarding access by the Government, for either foreign intelligence or law enforcement purposes, to information related to telephone calling patterns or practices.
Digital Surveillance: The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA, P.L. 103- 414, 47 USC 1001-1010), enacted October 25, 1994, is intended to preserve the ability of law enforcement officials to conduct electronic surveillance effectively and efficiently despite the deployment of new digital technologies and wireless services that have altered the character of electronic surveillance. CALEA requires telecommunications carriers to modify their equipment, facilities, and services, wherever reasonably achievable, to ensure that they are able to comply with authorized electronic surveillance actions.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.
Privacy: An Abbreviated Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping
This report discusses laws making it illegal to wiretap telephones or eavesdrop on other forms of telecommunication and electronic communication, such as email, without a court order.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.
Intelligence Reform at the Department of Energy: Policy Issues and Organizational Alternatives
This report discusses alternatives to the Department of Energy's semi-autonomous national security agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its counterintelligence office, the Office of Defense Nuclear Counterintelligence.
Oversight of Dual-Use Biological Research: The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity
This report discusses the risks involved in federally funding "dual-use" biological research, which can apply to the creation of both biological countermeasures and biological weapons, and the establishment of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) to aid in assessing these risk.
National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: A Glimpse of the Legal Background and Recent Amendments
This report discusses the USA PATRIOT Act, which expanded the authority of four national security letter (NSL) statutes and created a fifth, and the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act that amended the previous legislation. This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL33320, "National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: Legal Background and Recent Amendments".
National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: Legal Background and Recent Amendments
This report discusses the USA PATRIOT Act, which expanded the authority of four national security letter (NSL) statutes and created a fifth, and the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act that amended the previous legislation.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.
USA PATRIOT Act Sunset: A Sketch
This report discusses the sunset of a handful of communications-related sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act on March 10, 2006. The authority of the expiring sections remains in effect only as it relates to foreign intelligence investigations begun before sunset or to offenses or potential offenses begun or occurring before that date. Thereafter, the law reverts to its previous form unless it has been amended in the interim or subsequently renewed.
USA PATRIOT Act Sunset: Provisions That Were to Expire on December 31, 2005
This report examines various provisions of the Patriot Act that were set to expire on December 31, 2005. Their expiration date has been postponed until March 10, 2006. The expiring sections deal with the power of federal authorities to conduct searches and seizures, generally searches and seizures relating to communications.
China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets
This CRS Report discusses China’s suspected acquisition of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets, including that on the W88, the newest U.S. nuclear warhead, since the late 1970s. This current controversy, began in early 1999, raises policy issues about whether U.S. security is further threatened by the PRC’s suspected use of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets in its development of nuclear forces, as well as whether the Administration’s response to the security problems is effective or mishandled and whether it fairly used or abused its investigative and prosecuting authority.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
To address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st Century, Congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. In December 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (P.L. 108-458) was signed, providing for a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with substantial authorities to manage the national intelligence effort. The legislation calls for a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.
Libraries and the USA PATRIOT Act
This report discusses how and when the USA PATRIOT ACT P.L. 107-56 applies to libraries and bookstores under Section 215 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act. Includes legislative changes and amendments made in relation to Section 215. Updated August 19, 2005.
Intelligence Reform Implementation at the Federal Bureau of Investigation: Issues and Options for Congress
This report discusses arguments surrounding the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) intelligence and national security reforms following the September 11th Terrorist Attacks and provides options for Congress to address the FBI's reforms.
Digital Surveillance: The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA, P.L. 103- 414, 47 USC 1001-1010), enacted October 25, 1994, is intended to preserve the ability of law enforcement officials to conduct electronic surveillance effectively and efficiently despite the deployment of new digital technologies and wireless services that have altered the character of electronic surveillance. CALEA requires telecommunications carriers to modify their equipment, facilities, and services, wherever reasonably achievable, to ensure that they are able to comply with authorized electronic surveillance actions.
Libraries and the USA PATRIOT Act
This report discusses how and when the USA PATRIOT ACT P.L. 107-56 applies to libraries and bookstores under Section 215 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence planned legislation to permanently rework Section 215 which was set to expire on December 31, 2005. Updated July 6, 2005.
USA PATRIOT Act Sunset: Provisions That Expire on December 31, 2005
No Description Available.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including coordination among intelligence agencies, terrorism, and Iraq. Updated June 3, 2005.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including coordination among intelligence agencies, terrorism, and Iraq. Updated May 24, 2005.
The SAFE Acts of 2005: H.R. 1526 and S. 737--A Sketch
No Description Available.
Security and Freedom Ensured Act (SAFE Act)(H.R. 1526) and Security and Freedom Enhancement Act (SAFE Act)(S. 737): Section by Section Analysis
No Description Available.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
To address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st Century, congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. This report examines various issues faced by the Intelligence Community and relevant policy in the 109th Congress.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: An Overview of the Statutory Framework and Recent Judicial Decisions
This report will examine the detailed statutory structure provided by FISA and related provisions of E.O. 12333. In addition, it will discuss the decisions of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
Director of National Intelligence: Statutory Authorities
In passing the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458) in late 2004, Congress approved the most comprehensive reform of the U.S. Intelligence Community since its establishment over 50 years ago. Principal among enacted changes was the establishment of a new position of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to manage the Intelligence Community. Some observers have questioned whether the new statute provides the DNI the necessary authorities to effectively manage the Community.
Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction: Establishment and Composition
This report analyzes the establishment and organizational requirements set forth in the presidential mandate, and its relationship to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FAFCA). On March 31, 2005, the commission submitted its final report to the President, which contained 74 recommendations for reforming the U.S. intelligence community.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including coordination among intelligence agencies, terrorism, and Iraq. Updated March 22, 2005.
Climate Change: Summary and Analysis of the Climate Stewardship Act (S. 342 and H.R. 759)
This report is on Climate Change: Summary and Analysis of the Climate Stewardship Act (S. 342 and H.R. 759).
Counterintelligence Reform at the Department of Energy: Policy Issues and Organizational Alternatives
Lapses in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) security and counterintelligence program have plagued DOE since 1977, when the Department was established through the merger of 40 government organizations, including the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Federal Energy Administration.1 Some policymakers expected the new agency to focus the government’s energy-related enterprises almost solely on the energy crisis. Others saw DOE as an unsuccessful attempt to fuse vastly diverse organizations, many with significantly different, if not conflicting missions.
Terrorist Financing: The 9/11 Commission Recommendation
This report discusses the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the U.S. government shift the focus of its efforts to counter terrorist financing from a strategy based on seizing terrorist assets to a strategy based on exploiting intelligence gathered from financial investigations.
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Programs: Issues for Congress
This report discusses congressional concerns regarding intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) programs' costs, management, and efficacy and how to best resolve the issues within ISR programs. Updated February 22, 2005.
Intelligence Issues for Congress
This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century. Growing concerns about transnational threats, especially terrorism, are leading to increasingly close cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
Back to Top of Screen