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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 145

Providing for the establishment of a Joint Committee on Intelligence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 10, 1993

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’’).
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1 MEMBERSHIP

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

3 of nine Members of the Senate and nine Members of the

4 House of Representatives to be appointed as follows:

5 (1) Five members of the Senate from the ma6 jority party and four Members of the Senate from

7 the minority party shall be appointed by the Presi8 dent pro tempore of the Senate, including at least

9 one but not more than two members from each of

10 the following committees: the Committee on Appro11 priations; the Committee on Armed Services; the

12 Committee on Foreign Relations; and the Committee

13 on the Judiciary.

14 (2) Five members of the House of Representa15 tives from the majority party and four Members of

16 the House from the minority party shall be ap17 pointed by the Speaker of the House, including at

18 least one but not more than two members from each

19 of the following committees: the Committee on Ap20 propriations; the Committee on Armed Services; the

21 Committee on Foreign Affairs; and the Committee

22 on the Judiciary.

23 The majority leader and minority leader of the House of

24 Representatives and the majority leader and minority

25 leader of the Senate shall be ex officio members of the
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1 joint committee but shall have no vote in the joint commit2 tee and shall not be counted for purposes of determining

3 a quorum.

4 (b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no Mem5 ber of the Congress shall serve continuously on the joint

6 committee for more than six years.

7 (2)(A) Of the members of the joint committee ini8 tially appointed, three Members from the Senate, no more

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

10 three Members of the House of Representatives, no more

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

12 be appointed to each of three classes of initial terms; for

13 two years, four years, and six years, respectively.

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

15 committee during the first session of a Congress shall

16 serve continuously for more than five years plus the re17 mainder of the session during which such service began.

18 (ii) No member who begins service on the joint com19 mittee during the second session of a Congress shall serve

20 continuously for more than six years plus the remainder

21 of the session during which such service began.

22 (c) Vacancies in the membership of the joint commit23 tee shall not affect the power of the remaining members

24 to execute the functions of the joint committee and shall
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1 be filled in the same manner as in the case of the original

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

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

4 and a vice chairman from among its members at the be5 ginning of each session of a Congress. The vice chairman

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

7 absence of the chairman.

8 (2) The chairmanship and the vice chairmanship of

9 the joint committee shall alternate between the Senate and

10 the House of Representatives with each session of a Con11 gress. The chairman during each odd-numbered year shall

12 be selected by the Members of the House of Representa13 tives on the joint committee from among their number and

14 the chairman during each even-numbered year shall be se15 lected by the Members of the Senate on the joint commit16 tee from among their number. The vice chairman during

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

18 manner from that House of Congress other than the

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

20 DUTIES

21 SEC. 3. (a) The joint committee shall exercise exclu22 sive legislative jurisdiction with respect to—

23 (1) any intelligence activity conducted by any

24 agency or department of the Federal Government;

25 and
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1 (2) authorizations for appropriations, both di2 rect and indirect, for the following:

3 (A) The Central Intelligence Agency and

4 Director of Central Intelligence.

5 (B) The Defense Intelligence Agency.

6 (C) The National Security Agency.

7 (D) The intelligence and intelligence-relat8 ed activities of other agencies and subdivisions

9 of the Department of Defense.

10 (E) The intelligence and intelligence-relat11 ed activities of the Department of State.

12 (F) The intelligence and intelligence-relat13 ed activities of the Federal Bureau of Investiga14 tion, including all activities of the Intelligence

15 Division.

16 (G) Any department, agency, or subdivi17 sion which is the successor to any agency

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

19 the activities of any department, agency, or

20 subdivision which is the successor to any de21 partment, agency, bureau, or subdivision named

22 in subparagraph (D), (E), or (F), to the extent

23 that the activities of such successor department,

24 agency, or subdivision are activities described in

25 subparagraph (D), (E), or (F).
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1 (b) The joint committee shall review and study on

2 a continuing basis any intelligence activity conducted by

3 any agency or department of the Federal Government.

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

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

6 of Representatives, except for the last two sentences of

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

8 POWERS

9 SEC. 4. (a) The joint committee, or any duly author10 ized subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at

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

12 adjourned periods of the Congress, to require by subpoena

13 the attendance of such witnesses and the production of

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

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

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

17 as it considers advisable.

18 (b)(1) The joint committee may make such rules re19 specting its organization and procedures as it considers

20 necessary, except that no recommendation shall be re21 ported from the joint committee unless a majority of the

22 joint committee assent.

23 (2) Ten members of the joint committee shall con24 stitute a quorum for reporting any recommendation.

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

26 the chairman of the joint committee or of any member
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1 designated by the chairman or by the joint committee to

2 the extent the chairman or such member is authorized by

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

4 and may be served by any person designated by such

5 chairman or member.

6 (d) The chairman of the joint committee or any mem7 ber thereof may administer oaths or affirmations to wit8 nesses.

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

10 as the joint committee shall prescribe, make any informa11 tion in its possession available to any other committee or

12 Member of the Congress, and may permit any other Mem13 ber of the Congress to attend any hearing of the joint com14 mittee which is closed to the public. Whenever the joint

15 committee makes such information available, the joint

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

17 of any particular information, which committee or which

18 Members of the Congress received such information. No

19 Member of Congress who, and no committee which, re20 ceives any information under this subsection shall disclose

21 such information except in a closed session of the House

22 of Representatives or the Senate.

23 (f) The joint committee may permit any individual

24 designated by the President as a liaison to the joint com-
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1 mittee to attend any meeting of the joint committee which

2 is closed to the public.

3 INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES AND

4 DEPARTMENTS

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

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

7 and any other agency or department of the Federal Gov8 ernment conducting any intelligence activity, shall keep

9 the joint committee fully and currently informed with re10 spect to any such activity. Any such agency or department

11 shall furnish any periodic reports requested by the joint

12 committee with respect to any such activity.

13 CLASSIFICATION AND RELEASE OF INFORMATION

14 SEC. 6. (a) The joint committee shall classify infor15 mation originating within the joint committee, and the

16 records of the joint committee, in accordance with stand17 ards used generally by the executive branch of the Federal

18 Government for the classification of information. The joint

19 committee shall establish guidelines under which such in20 formation and records may be (1) maintained; (2) used

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

22 to any Member of the Congress who requests such infor23 mation or records and has an appropriate security clear24 ance, as determined by the joint committee.

25 (b)(1) The joint committee may, subject to the provi26 sions of this subsection, disclose publicly any information
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1 in the possession of the joint committee after a determina2 tion by the joint committee that the public interest would

3 be served by such disclosure.

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

5 to disclose publicly any information which has been classi6 fied under established security procedures, which has been

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

8 executive branch requests be kept secret, the joint commit9 tee shall notify the President of such vote.

10 (B) The joint committee may disclose publicly such

11 information after the expiration of a five-day period fol12 lowing the day on which notice of such vote is transmitted

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

14 five-day period, the President, personally in writing, noti15 fies the joint committee that he objects to the disclosure

16 of such information, provides his reasons therefor, and

17 certifies that the threat to the national interest of the

18 United States posed by such disclosure is of such gravity

19 that it outweighs any public interest in the disclosure.

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

21 of his objections to the disclosure of such information as

22 provided in paragraph (2)(B), the joint committee may,

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

24 such information with a recommendation thereon to the
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1 House of Representatives and the Senate for consider2 ation.

3 (B) The joint committee shall not publicly disclose

4 such information unless a two-thirds majority of each

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

6 divulging the information with respect to which the vote

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

8 committee to disclose such information.

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

10 of Representatives is in session, after such recommenda11 tion is reported to the House, no motion has been made

12 by the chairman or vice chairman of the joint committee

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

14 subparagraph (A), then such a motion will be deemed priv15 ileged and may be made by any Member. The motion

16 under this subparagraph shall not be subject to debate or

17 amendment. When made, it shall be decided without inter18 vening motion, except one motion to adjourn.

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

20 closed session, the Speaker shall then be authorized to de21 clare a recess subject to the call of the Chair. At the expi22 ration of such recess, the pending question, in closed ses23 sion, shall be, ‘‘Shall the House approve the recommenda24 tions of the joint committee?’’
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1 (E) After not more than two hours of debate on the

2 motion, such debate to be equally divided and controlled

3 by the chairman or vice chairman and ranking minority

4 member of the joint committee, or their designees, the pre5 vious question shall be considered as ordered and the

6 House, without intervening motion except one motion to

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

8 session but without divulging the information with respect

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

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

11 majority, the question shall be deemed recommitted to the

12 joint committee for further recommendation.

13 RECORDS

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

15 record of all joint committee actions, including a record

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

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

18 committee shall be the property of the joint committee and

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

20 other places as the joint committee may direct.

21 UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

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

23 carry out such rules and procedures as it considers nec24 essary to prevent the disclosure, outside the joint commit25 tee, of any information which (1) relates to any intel26 ligence activity which is conducted by any agency or de-
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1 partment of the Federal Government; (2) is obtained by

2 the joint committee, any member of the joint committee,

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

4 (3) is not authorized by the joint committee to be dis5 closed.

6 (b) No member of the staff of the joint committee

7 shall be given access to any classified information by the

8 joint committee unless such staff member has received an

9 appropriate security clearance as determined by the joint

10 committee, in consultation with the Director of Central In11 telligence and other appropriate intelligence community

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

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

14 members shall, within the determination of the joint com15 mittee, in consultation with the Director of Central Intel16 ligence and other appropriate intelligence community offi17 cials, be commensurate with the sensitivity of the classi18 fied information to which such staff member or class of

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

20 (c)(1) The joint committee may take appropriate ac21 tions against any member of the joint committee, or any

22 staff member of the joint committee, who violates any pro23 vision of this section or any guideline established under

24 section 6.
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1 (2)(A) In the case of a member of the joint commit2 tee, such action may include (i) the censure of such mem3 ber by the joint committee; (ii) the expulsion of such mem4 ber from the joint committee, unless such expulsion is ob5 jected to, within five legislative days after the joint com6 mittee reports such expulsion, by a majority vote in the

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

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

9 Representatives, as the case may be, by the joint commit10 tee that such member be censured or expelled by the Sen11 ate or the House of Representatives.

12 (B) Unless an objection is adopted under subpara13 graph (A)(ii) of this paragraph, no member of the joint

14 committee who the joint committee has expelled shall at15 tend or participate in any meeting or activity of the joint

16 committee.

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

18 the joint committee, such action may include the imme19 diate dismissal of such person. The joint committee shall

20 report to the Attorney General of the United States any

21 apparent violation of any Federal criminal law committed

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

23 provision of this section or any guidance established under

24 section 6.
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1 STAFF

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

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

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

5 (1) appoint, on a permanent basis, without re6 gard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of

7 fitness to perform their duties, professional staff

8 members and clerical staff members;

9 (2) prescribe the duties and responsibilities of

10 such staff;

11 (3) fix the pay of such staff at rates not in ex12 cess of the rate of basic pay payable for grade GS–

13 18 of the General Schedule under section 5332(a) of

14 title 5, United States Code;

15 (4) terminate the employment of such staff as

16 the joint committee may consider appropriate; and

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

18 members to agree in writing and under oath to the

19 policy of the joint committee governing the disclo20 sure of classified information.

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

22 joint resolution, the joint committee may utilize, on a re23 imbursable basis, the services, information, facilities, and

24 personnel of any agency or department of the Federal

25 Government, and may procure the temporary or intermit-
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1 tent services of experts or consultants by contract at rates

2 of pay not in excess of the daily equivalent of the annual

3 rate of basic pay payable for grade GS–18 of the General

4 Schedule under section 5332(a) of title 5, United States

5 Code, including payment of such rates for necessary

6 traveltime.

7 EXPENSES

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

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

10 of Representatives and one-half from the contingent fund

11 of the Senate, from funds appropriated for the joint com12 mittee, upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the

13 joint committee.

14 DEFINITION

15 SEC. 11. For purposes of this joint resolution—

16 (1) the term ‘‘intelligence activities’’ includes—

17 (A) the collection, analysis, production, dis18 semination, or use of information which relates

19 to any foreign country, or any government, po20 litical group, party, military force, movement,

21 or other association in such foreign country,

22 and which relates to the defense, foreign policy,

23 national security, or related policies of the Unit24 ed States, and other activity which is in support

25 of such activities;
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1 (B) activities taken to counter similar ac2 tivities directed against the United States;

3 (C) covert or clandestine activities affect4 ing the relations of the United States with any

5 foreign government, political group, party, mili6 tary force, movement, or other association; and

7 (D) the collection, analysis, production,

8 dissemination, or use of information about ac9 tivities of persons within the United States, its

10 territories and possessions, or nationals of the

11 United States abroad whose political and relat12 ed activities pose, or may be considered by any

13 department, agency, bureau, office, division, in14 strumentality, or employee of the United States

15 to pose, a threat to the internal security of the

16 United States, and covert or clandestine activi17 ties directed against such persons; and

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

19 the joint committee and any person engaged by con20 tract or otherwise to perform services for the joint

21 committee.

22 RULES

23 SEC. 12. (a)(1) Clause 1(c)(1) of rule X of the Rules

24 of the House of Representatives is amended by inserting

25 immediately before the period at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘, except for matters exclusively within the legislative ju2 risdiction of the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

3 (2) Clause 1(c)(2) of rule X of the Rules of the House

4 of Representatives is amended by inserting immediately

5 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except for

6 matters exclusively within the legislative jurisdiction of the

7 Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

8 (3) Clause 1(c)(10) of rule X of the Rules of the

9 House of Representatives is amended by inserting imme10 diately before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except

11 for matters exclusively within the legislative jurisdiction

12 of the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

13 (4) Clause 1(k)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the

14 House of Representatives is amended by inserting imme15 diately before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except

16 for matters exclusively within the legislative jurisdiction

17 of the Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

18 (5) Clause 3(d) of rule X of the Rules of the House

19 of Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘intelligence ac20 tivities relating to foreign policy,’’.

21 (6) Clause 2(g)(2)(B) of rule XI of the Rules of the

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

23 Committee on Armed Services, and the Permanent Select

24 Committee on Intelligence’’ and inserting ‘‘and the Com25 mittee on Armed Services’’.
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1 (7) Rule XLVIII of the Rules of the House of Rep2 resentatives is repealed.

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

4 by the Congress—

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

6 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re7 spectively, and as such they shall be considered as

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

9 that House to which they specifically apply, and

10 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex11 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

12 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

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

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

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

16 any other rule of such House.

17 AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 1947

18 SEC. 13. (a) Section 501 of the National Security Act

19 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413) is amended—

20 (1) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ‘‘Select

21 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate’’ and all

22 that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘Joint

23 Committee on Intelligence (hereafter in this title re24 ferred to as the ‘joint committee’).’’;

25 (2) by striking ‘‘intelligence committees’’ each

26 place it appears and inserting ‘‘joint committee’’;
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1 (3) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘each of’’ and

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

3 (4) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘its respective’’

4 both places it appears and inserting ‘‘their respec5 tive’’.

6 (b) Section 504(e)(2) of such Act is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘Permanent Select Committee

8 on Intelligence and’’ inserting ‘‘joint committee,’’;

9 and

10 (2) by striking ‘‘and the Select Committee on

11 Intelligence’’ and inserting a comma.

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

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

14 that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘Joint Com15 mittee on Intelligence.’’.

16 (d) Section 603 of the such Act is amended by strik17 ing ‘‘submit to the Select’’ and all that follows through

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

19 Joint Committee on Intelligence’’.

20 EFFECTIVE DATE

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

22 of the first Congress beginning after the date of enactment

23 of this Act.

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