IA

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 130

Providing for the establishment of a Joint Committee on Intelligence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 5, 1995

Mr. HYDE introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Rules

JOINT RESOLUTION

Providing for the establishment of a Joint Committee on

Intelligence.

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 ESTABLISHMENT

4 SECTION 1. There is established a Joint Committee

5 on Intelligence (hereafter in this joint resolution referred

6 to as the ‘‘joint committee’’).

7 MEMBERSHIP

8 SEC. 2. (a) The joint committee shall be composed

9 of nine Members of the Senate and nine Members of the

10 House of Representatives to be appointed as follows:
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1 (1) Five Members of the Senate from the ma2 jority party and four Members of the Senate from

3 the minority party shall be appointed by the Presi4 dent pro tempore of the Senate, including at least

5 one but not more than two members from each of

6 the following committees: the Committee on Appro7 priations; the Committee on Armed Services; the

8 Committee on Foreign Relations; and the Committee

9 on the Judiciary.

10 (2) Five Members of the House of Representa11 tives from the majority party and four Members of

12 the House from the minority party shall be ap13 pointed by the Speaker of the House, including at

14 least one but not more than two members from each

15 of the following committees: the Committee on Ap16 propriations; the Committee on National Security;

17 the Committee on International Relations; and the

18 Committee on the Judiciary.

19 The majority leader and minority leader of the House of

20 Representatives and the majority leader and minority

21 leader of the Senate shall be ex officio members of the

22 joint committee but shall have no vote in the joint commit23 tee and shall not be counted for purposes of determining

24 a quorum.
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1 (b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no Mem2 ber of the Congress shall serve continuously on the joint

3 committee for more than eight years, except that the in4 cumbent chairman or ranking minority member having

5 served on the joint committee for eight years and having

6 served as chairman or ranking minority member for not

7 more than two years shall be eligible for reappointment

8 to the joint committee as chairman or ranking minority

9 member for an additional two years.

10 (2)(A) Of the members of the joint committee ini11 tially appointed, three Members from the Senate, no more

12 than two of whom are members of the same party, and

13 three Members of the House of Representatives, no more

14 than two of whom are members of the same party, shall

15 be appointed to each of four classes of initial terms; for

16 two years, four years, six years, and eight years, respec17 tively.

18 (B)(i) No member who begins service on the joint

19 committee during the first session of a Congress shall

20 serve continuously for more than seven years plus the re21 mainder of the session during which such service began.

22 (ii) No member who begins service on the joint com23 mittee during the second session of a Congress shall serve

24 continuously for more than eight years plus the remainder

25 of the session during which such service began.
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1 (c) Vacancies in the membership of the joint commit2 tee shall not affect the power of the remaining members

3 to execute the functions of the joint committee and shall

4 be filled in the same manner as in the case of the original

5 appointment, for terms as provided in subsection (b).

6 (d)(1) The joint committee shall select a chairman

7 and a vice chairman from among its members at the be8 ginning of each session of a Congress. The vice chairman

9 shall act in the place and stead of the chairman in the

10 absence of the chairman.

11 (2) The chairmanship and the vice chairmanship of

12 the joint committee shall alternate between the Senate and

13 the House of Representatives with each session of a Con14 gress. The chairman during each odd-numbered year shall

15 be selected by the Members of the House of Representa16 tives on the joint committee from among their number and

17 the chairman during each even-numbered year shall be se18 lected by the Members of the Senate on the joint commit19 tee from among their number. The vice chairman during

20 each session of a Congress shall be chosen in the same

21 manner from that House of Congress other than the

22 House of Congress of which the chairman is a Member.

23 DUTIES

24 SEC. 3. (a) The joint committee shall exercise exclu25 sive legislative jurisdiction with respect to—
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1 (1) any intelligence activity conducted by any

2 agency or department of the Federal Government;

3 and

4 (2) authorizations for appropriations, both di5 rect and indirect, for the following:

6 (A) The Central Intelligence Agency and

7 Director of Central Intelligence.

8 (B) The Defense Intelligence Agency.

9 (C) The National Security Agency.

10 (D) The intelligence and intelligence-relat11 ed activities of other agencies and subdivisions

12 of the Department of Defense.

13 (E) The intelligence and intelligence-relat14 ed activities of the Department of State.

15 (F) The intelligence and intelligence-relat16 ed activities of the Federal Bureau of Investiga17 tion, including all activities of the Intelligence

18 Division.

19 (G) Any department, agency, or subdivi20 sion which is the successor to any agency

21 named in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); and

22 the activities of any department, agency, or

23 subdivision which is the successor to any de24 partment, agency, bureau, or subdivision named

25 in subparagraph (D), (E), or (F), to the extent
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1 that the activities of such successor department,

2 agency, or subdivision are activities described in

3 subparagraph (D), (E), or (F).

4 (b) The joint committee shall review and study on

5 a continuing basis any intelligence activity conducted by

6 any agency or department of the Federal Government.

7 (c) In order to assist the Congress, the provisions of

8 clause 2(a) and (b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House

9 of Representatives, except for the last two sentences of

10 clause 2 (b)(1), shall apply to the joint committee.

11 POWERS

12 SEC. 4. (a) The joint committee, or any duly author13 ized subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at

14 such places and times during the sessions, recesses, and

15 adjourned periods of the Congress, to require by subpoena

16 the attendance of such witnesses and the production of

17 such books, papers, and documents, to administer such

18 oaths and affirmations, to take such testimony, to procure

19 such printing and binding, and to make such expenditures,

20 as it considers advisable.

21 (b)(1) The joint committee may make such rules re22 specting its organization and procedures as it considers

23 necessary, except that no recommendation shall be re24 ported from the joint committee unless a majority of the

25 joint committee assent.
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1 (2) Ten members of the joint committee shall con2 stitute a quorum for reporting any recommendation.

3 (c) Subpoenas may be issued over the signature of

4 the chairman of the joint committee or of any member

5 designated by the chairman or by the joint committee to

6 the extent the chairman or such member is authorized by

7 a majority of the joint committee to issue such subpoenas,

8 and may be served by any person designated by such

9 chairman or member.

10 (d) The chairman of the joint committee or any mem11 ber thereof may administer oaths or affirmations to wit12 nesses.

13 (e) The joint committee shall, under such regulations

14 as the joint committee shall prescribe, make any informa15 tion in its possession available to any other committee or

16 Member of the Congress, and may permit any other Mem17 ber of the Congress to attend any hearing of the joint com18 mittee which is closed to the public. Whenever the joint

19 committee makes such information available, the joint

20 committee shall keep a written record showing, in the case

21 of any particular information, which committee or which

22 Members of the Congress received such information. No

23 Member of Congress who, and no committee which, re24 ceives any information under this subsection shall disclose
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1 such information except in a closed session of the House

2 of Representatives or the Senate.

3 (f) The joint committee may permit any individual

4 designated by the President as a liaison to the joint com5 mittee to attend any meeting of the joint committee which

6 is closed to the public.

7 INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES AND

8 DEPARTMENTS

9 SEC. 5. Any agency or department of the Federal

10 Government described in section 3(a)(2)(A) through (F)

11 and any other agency or department of the Federal Gov12 ernment conducting any intelligence activity, shall keep

13 the joint committee fully and currently informed with re14 spect to any such activity. Any such agency or department

15 shall furnish any periodic reports requested by the joint

16 committee with respect to any such activity.

17 CLASSIFICATION AND RELEASE OF INFORMATION

18 SEC. 6. (a) The joint committee shall classify infor19 mation originating within the joint committee, and the

20 records of the joint committee, in accordance with stand21 ards used generally by the executive branch of the Federal

22 Government for the classification of information. The joint

23 committee shall establish guidelines under which such in24 formation and records may be (1) maintained; (2) used

25 by the staff of the joint committee; and (3) made available

26 to any Member of the Congress who requests such infor-
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1 mation or records and has an appropriate security clear2 ance, as determined by the joint committee.

3 (b)(1) The joint committee may, subject to the provi4 sions of this subsection, disclose publicly any information

5 in the possession of the joint committee after a determina6 tion by the joint committee that the public interest would

7 be served by such disclosure.

8 (2)(A) In any case in which the joint committee votes

9 to disclose publicly any information which has been classi10 fied under established security procedures, which has been

11 submitted to it by the executive branch, and which the

12 executive branch requests be kept secret, the joint commit13 tee shall notify the President of such vote.

14 (B) The joint committee may disclose publicly such

15 information after the expiration of a five-day period fol16 lowing the day on which notice of such vote is transmitted

17 to the President, unless prior to the expiration of such

18 five-day period, the President, personally in writing, noti19 fies the joint committee that he objects to the disclosure

20 of such information, provides his reasons therefor, and

21 certifies that the threat to the national interest of the

22 United States posed by such disclosure is of such gravity

23 that it outweighs any public interest in the disclosure.

24 (3)(A) If the President notifies the joint committee

25 of his objections to the disclosure of such information as
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1 provided in paragraph (2)(B), the joint committee may,

2 by majority vote, refer the question of the disclosure of

3 such information with a recommendation thereon to the

4 House of Representatives and the Senate for consider5 ation.

6 (B) The joint committee shall not publicly disclose

7 such information unless a two-thirds majority of each

8 House has, by recorded vote in open session but without

9 divulging the information with respect to which the vote

10 is being taken, agreed to the recommendation of the joint

11 committee to disclose such information.

12 (C) If within four calendar days on which the House

13 of Representatives is in session, after such recommenda14 tion is reported to the House, no motion has been made

15 by the chairman or vice chairman of the joint committee

16 to consider, in closed session, the matter reported under

17 subparagraph (A), then such a motion will be deemed priv18 ileged and may be made by any Member. The motion

19 under this subparagraph shall not be subject to debate or

20 amendment. When made, it shall be decided without inter21 vening motion, except one motion to adjourn.

22 (D) If the House adopts a motion to resolve into

23 closed session, the Speaker shall then be authorized to de24 clare a recess subject to the call of the Chair. At the expi25 ration of such recess, the pending question, in closed ses-
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1 sion, shall be, ‘‘Shall the House approve the recommenda2 tions of the joint committee?’’.

3 (E) After not more than two hours of debate on the

4 motion, such debate to be equally divided and controlled

5 by the chairman or vice chairman and ranking minority

6 member of the joint committee, or their designees, the pre7 vious question shall be considered as ordered and the

8 House, without intervening motion except one motion to

9 adjourn, shall immediately vote on the question, in open

10 session but without divulging the information with respect

11 to which the vote is being taken. If the recommendation

12 of the joint committee is not agreed to by a two-thirds

13 majority, the question shall be deemed recommitted to the

14 joint committee for further recommendation.

15 RECORDS

16 SEC. 7. The joint committee shall keep a complete

17 record of all joint committee actions, including a record

18 of the votes on any question on which a record vote is

19 demanded. All records, data, charts, and files of the joint

20 committee shall be the property of the joint committee and

21 shall be kept in the office of the joint committee or such

22 other places as the joint committee may direct.

23 UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

24 SEC. 8. (a) The joint committee shall establish and

25 carry out such rules and procedures as it considers nec26 essary to prevent the disclosure, outside the joint commit-
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1 tee, of any information which (1) relates to any intel2 ligence activity which is conducted by any agency or de3 partment of the Federal Government; (2) is obtained by

4 the joint committee, any member of the joint committee,

5 or any member of the staff of the joint committee; and

6 (3) is not authorized by the joint committee to be dis7 closed.

8 (b)(1) Before any member of the joint committee or

9 any member of the staff of the joint committee may have

10 access to classified information, the following oath (or af11 firmation) shall be executed:

12 ‘‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will not dis13 close any classified information received in the

14 course of my service with the joint committee, except

15 as authorized by the joint committee or in accord16 ance with the rules of the joint committee.’’.

17 (2) No member of the staff of the joint committee

18 shall be given access to any classified information by the

19 joint committee unless such staff member has received an

20 appropriate security clearance as determined by the joint

21 committee, in consultation with the Director of Central In22 telligence and other appropriate intelligence community

23 officials. The type of security clearance to be required in

24 the case of any such staff member or any class of staff

25 members shall, within the determination of the joint com-
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1 mittee, in consultation with the Director of Central Intel2 ligence and other appropriate intelligence community offi3 cials, be commensurate with the sensitivity of the classi4 fied information to which such staff member or class of

5 staff members will be given access by the joint committee.

6 (c)(1) The joint committee may take appropriate ac7 tions against any member of the joint committee, or any

8 staff member of the joint committee, who violates any pro9 vision of this section or any guideline established under

10 section 6.

11 (2)(A) In the case of a member of the joint commit12 tee, such action may include (i) the censure of such mem13 ber by the joint committee; (ii) the expulsion of such mem14 ber from the joint committee, unless such expulsion is ob15 jected to, within five legislative days after the joint com16 mittee reports such expulsion, by a majority vote in the

17 House of Congress of which such member is a Member;

18 and (iii) recommendation to the Senate or the House of

19 Representatives, as the case may be, by the joint commit20 tee that such member be censured or expelled by the Sen21 ate or the House of Representatives.

22 (B) Unless an objection is adopted under subpara23 graph (A)(ii) of this paragraph, no member of the joint

24 committee who the joint committee has expelled shall at-
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1 tend or participate in any meeting or activity of the joint

2 committee.

3 (3) In the case of a person serving on the staff of

4 the joint committee, such action may include the imme5 diate dismissal of such person. The joint committee shall

6 report to the Attorney General of the United States any

7 apparent violation of any Federal criminal law committed

8 by any such person in connection with a violation of any

9 provision of this section or any guidance established under

10 section 6.

11 STAFF

12 SEC. 9. (a) In carrying out its functions under this

13 joint resolution, the joint committee may, by record vote

14 of a majority of the members of the joint committee—

15 (1) appoint, on a permanent basis, without re16 gard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of

17 fitness to perform their duties, professional staff

18 members and clerical staff members;

19 (2) prescribe the duties and responsibilities of

20 such staff;

21 (3) fix the pay of such staff at rates not in ex22 cess of the maximum rate of basic pay payable for

23 positions above grade GS–15 of the General Sched24 ule under section 5376 of title 5, United States

25 Code;
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1 (4) terminate the employment of such staff as

2 the joint committee may consider appropriate; and

3 (5) require, at the time of appointment, all staff

4 members to agree in writing and under oath to the

5 policy of the joint committee governing the disclo6 sure of classified information.

7 (b) In carrying out any of its functions under this

8 joint resolution, the joint committee may utilize, on a re9 imbursable basis, the services, information, facilities, and

10 personnel of any agency or department of the Federal

11 Government, and may procure the temporary or intermit12 tent services of experts or consultants by contract at rates

13 of pay not in excess of the daily equivalent of the maxi14 mum annual rate of basic pay payable for positions above

15 grade GS–15 of the General Schedule under section 5376

16 of title 5, United States Code, including payment of such

17 rates for necessary traveltime.

18 EXPENSES

19 SEC. 10. The expenses of the joint committee shall

20 be paid one-half from the contingent fund of the House

21 of Representatives and one-half from the contingent fund

22 of the Senate, from funds appropriated for the joint com23 mittee, upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the

24 joint committee.

25 DEFINITION

26 SEC. 11. For purposes of this joint resolution—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘intelligence activities’’ includes—

2 (A) the collection, analysis, production, dis3 semination, or use of information which relates

4 to any foreign country, or any government, po5 litical group, party, military force, movement,

6 or other association in such foreign country,

7 and which relates to the defense, foreign policy,

8 national security, or related policies of the Unit9 ed States, and other activity which is in support

10 of such activities;

11 (B) activities taken to counter similar ac12 tivities directed against the United States;

13 (C) covert or clandestine activities affect14 ing the relations of the United States with any

15 foreign government, political group, party, mili16 tary force, movement, or other association; and

17 (D) the collection, analysis, production,

18 dissemination, or use of information about ac19 tivities of persons within the United States, its

20 territories and possessions, or nationals of the

21 United States abroad whose political and relat22 ed activities pose, or may be considered by any

23 department, agency, bureau, office, division, in24 strumentality, or employee of the United States

25 to pose, a threat to the internal security of the
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1 United States, and covert or clandestine activi2 ties directed against such persons; and

3 (2) the term ‘‘staff’’ includes any employee of

4 the joint committee and any person engaged by con5 tract or otherwise to perform services for the joint

6 committee.

7 RULES

8 SEC. 12. (a)(1) Clause 1(h)(1) of rule X of the Rules

9 of the House of Representatives is amended by inserting

10 ‘‘and the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’ after ‘‘Appro11 priations’’.

12 (2) Clause 1(k)(2) of rule X of the Rules of the

13 House of Representatives is amended by inserting imme14 diately before the period at the end the following:

15 ‘‘, except for matters exclusively within the legislative ju16 risdiction of the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

17 (3) Clause 1(k)(4) of rule X of the Rules of the

18 House of Representatives is amended by inserting imme19 diately before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except

20 for matters exclusively within the legislative jurisdiction

21 of the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

22 (4) Clause 1(k)(15) of rule X of the Rules of the

23 House of Representatives is amended by inserting imme24 diately before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except

25 for matters exclusively within the legislative jurisdiction

26 of the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.
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1 (5) The matter following clause 1(i)(17) and clause

2 3(d) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representa3 tives are each amended by striking ‘‘intelligence activities

4 relating to foreign policy,’’.

5 (6) Clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the

6 House of Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘, the

7 Committee on National Security, and the Permanent Se8 lect Committee on Intelligence’’ and inserting ‘‘and the

9 Committee on National Security’’.

10 (7) Clause 6(a)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the

11 House of Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘the

12 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

14 (8) Rule XLVIII of the Rules of the House of Rep15 resentatives is repealed.

16 (b) The provisions of this joint resolution are enacted

17 by the Congress—

18 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

19 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re20 spectively, and as such they shall be considered as

21 part of the rules of each House, respectively, or of

22 that House to which they specifically apply, and

23 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex24 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
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1 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

2 right of either House to change such rules (so far

3 as relating to such House) at any time, in the same

4 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of

5 any other rule of such House.

6 AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 1947

7 SEC. 13. (a) Section 104(d) of the National Security

8 Agency of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403–4(d)) is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Select Com10 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Perma11 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House

12 of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Joint Committee

13 on Intelligence’’; and

14 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘Select Com15 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate and to the Per16 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the

17 House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Joint

18 Committee on Intelligence’’.

19 (b) Section 501 of such Act is amended—

20 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘intel21 ligence committees are’’ and inserting ‘‘joint com22 mittee is’’;

23 (2) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘the term’’

24 and all that follows through the period and inserting

25 ‘‘the term ‘joint committee’ means the Joint Com-
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1 mittee on Intelligence (hereafter in this title referred

2 to as the ‘joint committee’).’’;

3 (3) as amended by paragraph (1), by striking

4 ‘‘intelligence committees’’ each place it appears and

5 inserting ‘‘joint committee’’;

6 (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘each of’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘the Members of each House on’’; and

8 (5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘its respec9 tive’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘their re10 spective’’.

11 (c) Section 502 of such Act is amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘intelligence committees’’ and

13 inserting ‘‘joint committee’’ each place it appears;

14 and

15 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘either of’’.

16 (d) Section 503 of such Act is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘intelligence committees’’ and

18 inserting ‘‘joint committee’’ each place it appears;

19 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘either of’’;

20 and

21 (3) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘each intel22 ligence committee’’ and inserting ‘‘the joint commit23 tee’’.

24 (e) Section 504 of such Act is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘intel2 ligence committees’’ and inserting ‘‘joint commit3 tee’’; and

4 (2) in subsection (e)(2)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘Permanent Select Com6 mittee on Intelligence’’ and inserting ‘‘joint

7 committee,’’; and

8 (B) by striking ‘‘and the Select Committee

9 on Intelligence’’ and inserting a comma.

10 (f) Section 602(c) of such Act is amended by striking

11 ‘‘Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate’’ and all

12 that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘Joint Com13 mittee on Intelligence.’’.

14 (g) Section 603 of the such Act is amended by strik15 ing ‘‘submit to the Select’’ and all that follows through

16 ‘‘House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘submit to the

17 Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

18 (h) Section 701(c)(3) of such Act is amended by

19 striking ‘‘intelligence committees’’ and inserting ‘‘Joint

20 Committee on Intelligence’’.

21 (i) Section 801(b)(2) of such Act is amended by strik22 ing ‘‘Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the

23 House of Representatives and the Select Committee on In24 telligence of the Senate’’ and inserting ‘‘Joint Committee

25 on Intelligence’’.
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1 EFFECTIVE DATE

2 SEC. 14. This Act shall take effect at the beginning

3 of the first Congress beginning after the date of enactment

4 of this Act.

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