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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 48

To provide for the establishment of a Joint Committee on Intelligence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

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

the Committee on Rules

JOINT RESOLUTION

To provide 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 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT.

4 There shall be established, at the beginning of the

5 first Congress beginning after the date of the enactment

6 of this joint resolution, a Joint Committee on Intelligence

7 (hereafter in this resolution referred to as the ‘‘joint com8 mittee’’).

9 SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP.

10 (a) APPOINTMENT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The joint committee shall be

2 composed of seven Members of the Senate and seven

3 Members of the House of Representatives to be ap4 pointed as follows:

5 (A) Four members of the Senate from the

6 majority party and three Members of the Sen7 ate from the minority party shall be appointed

8 by the President pro tempore of the Senate, in9 cluding at least one but not more than two

10 members from each of the following committees:

11 the Committee on Armed Services and the

12 Committee on Foreign Relations.

13 (B) Four members of the House of Rep14 resentatives from the majority party and three

15 Members of the House of Representatives from

16 the minority party shall be appointed by the

17 Speaker of the House, including at least one

18 but not more than two members from each of

19 the following committees: the Committee on

20 Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign

21 Affairs.

22 (2) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The majority lead23 er and minority leader of the House of Representa24 tives and the majority leader and minority leader of

25 the Senate shall be ex officio members of the joint
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1 committee, but shall have no vote in the joint com2 mittee and shall not be counted for purposes of de3 termining a quorum.

4 (b) LENGTH OF SERVICE ON JOINT COMMITTEE.—

5 (1) GENERAL RULE.—Members of the joint

6 committee shall be appointed to six year terms.

7 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—(A) Of the members of the

8 joint committee initially appointed, two Members

9 from the Senate, one from each party, and two

10 Members of the House of Representatives, one from

11 each party, shall be appointed to a term of two

12 years.

13 (B) Of the members of the joint committee ini14 tially appointed, two Members from the Senate, one

15 from each party, and two Members of the House of

16 Representatives, one from each party, shall be ap17 pointed to a term of four years.

18 (3) LIMITATIONS ON CONTINUOUS SERVICE.—

19 (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the

20 maximum period of continuous service for a Member

21 of Congress on the joint committee shall be six

22 years.

23 (B)(i) A member who begins service on the

24 joint committee as a replacement for a member who

25 has more than three years remaining in his term
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1 may serve continuously only for the remainder of

2 such term.

3 (ii) A member who begins service on the joint

4 committee as a replacement for a member who has

5 less than three years remaining in his term may

6 serve continuously for the remainder of such term

7 plus one subsequent six year term.

8 (iii) A member appointed to a term described in

9 paragraph (2) may serve continuously only for the

10 remainder of such term.

11 (c) VACANCIES.—Vacancies in the membership of the

12 joint committee shall not affect the power of the remaining

13 members to execute the functions of the joint committee,

14 and shall be filled in the same manner as in the case of

15 the original appointment, for terms as provided in sub16 section (b).

17 (d) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The joint

18 committee shall have a chairman and a vice chairman. The

19 vice chairman shall act in the place and stead of the chair20 man in the absence of the chairman. The chairmanship

21 and the vice chairmanship of the joint committee shall al22 ternate between the Senate and the House of Representa23 tives with each session of a Congress. The chairman dur24 ing each odd-numbered year shall be selected by the Mem25 bers of the House of Representatives on the joint commit-
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1 tee from among their number and the chairman during

2 each even-numbered year shall be selected by the Members

3 of the Senate on the joint committee from among their

4 number. The vice chairman during each session of a Con5 gress shall be chosen in the same manner from that House

6 of Congress other than the House of Congress of which

7 the chairman is a Member.

8 (e) QUORUM.—Eight members of the joint committee

9 shall constitute a quorum for reporting any recommenda10 tion.

11 SEC. 3. DUTIES.

12 (a) JURISDICTION.—The joint committee shall exer13 cise exclusive legislative jurisdiction with respect to—

14 (1) any intelligence or counterintelligence activ15 ity conducted by any intelligence-gathering agency or

16 department of the Federal Government; and

17 (2) authorizations for appropriations, both di18 rect and indirect, for—

19 (A) the Central Intelligence Agency and

20 Director of Central Intelligence;

21 (B) the Defense Intelligence Agency;

22 (C) the National Security Agency; and

23 (D) the intelligence, counterintelligence,

24 and intelligence-related activities of other agen25 cies and departments of the Federal Govern-
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1 ment, including the Department of Defense, the

2 Department of State, and the Federal Bureau

3 of Investigation.

4 (b) OVERSIGHT OF INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES.—The

5 joint committee shall review and study on a continuing

6 basis any intelligence or counterintelligence activity con7 ducted by any agency or department of the Federal Gov8 ernment.

9 SEC. 4. POWERS.

10 (a) GENERAL POWERS.—The joint committee, or any

11 duly authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit

12 and act at such places and times during the sessions, re13 cesses, and adjourned periods of the Congress, to require

14 by subpoena the attendance of such witnesses and the pro15 duction of such books, papers, and documents, to admin16 ister such oaths and affirmations, to take such testimony,

17 to procure such printing and binding, and to make such

18 expenditures, as it considers advisable.

19 (b) SUBPOENAS.—Subpoenas may be issued over the

20 signature of the chairman of the joint committee or of any

21 member designated by the chairman or by the joint com22 mittee to the extent the chairman or such member is au23 thorized by a majority of the joint committee to issue such

24 subpoenas, and may be served by any person designated

25 by such chairman or member.
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1 (c) OATHS OR AFFIRMATIONS.—The chairman of the

2 joint committee or any member thereof may administer

3 oaths or affirmations to witnesses.

4 SEC. 5. RULES OF JOINT COMMITTEE.

5 The joint committee shall establish and carry out

6 such rules and procedures as it considers necessary and

7 appropriate—

8 (1) respecting its organization and procedures;

9 (2) to classify information originating within

10 the joint committee, and the records of the joint

11 committee, in accordance with standards used gen12 erally by the executive branch of the Federal Gov13 ernment for the classification of information;

14 (3) to prevent the unauthorized disclosure, out15 side the joint committee, of any information in the

16 possession of the joint committee;

17 (4) to censure or expel from the joint committee

18 a member of the joint committee found to be respon19 sible for the unauthorized disclosure of any informa20 tion in the possession of the joint committee, with

21 adequate time for appeal by such member to the

22 House of Congress of which such member is a Mem23 ber;

24 (5) to recommend to the Senate or the House

25 of Representatives, as the case may be, that a mem-
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1 ber of the joint committee found to be responsible

2 for the unauthorized disclosure of any information in

3 the possession of the joint committee be censured or

4 expelled by the Senate or the House of Representa5 tives;

6 (6) to make any information in the possession

7 of the joint committee available to any other com8 mittee or Member of the Congress;

9 (7) to seek authority, after written notification

10 to the President and a one week period for the

11 President to respond to the Congress, from the Sen12 ate and the House of Representatives for the disclo13 sure of sensitive information if the joint committee

14 finds such disclosure to be in the National interest;

15 (8) to appoint, prescribe the duties and respon16 sibilities of, fix the pay of, require appropriate secu17 rity clearances for, and establish conditions for the

18 termination of employment of, professional staff

19 members and clerical staff members; and

20 (9) to govern the manner in which information

21 and records of the joint committee shall be used by

22 the staff.

23 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCLOSURE BY MEMBER.

24 No Member of Congress who, and no committee

25 which, receives any information from the joint committee
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1 shall disclose such information without proper authoriza2 tion, except in a closed session of the House of Represent3 atives or the Senate.

4 SEC. 7. EXPENSES.

5 The expenses of the joint committee shall be paid

6 one-half from the contingent fund of the House of Rep7 resentatives and one-half from the contingent fund of the

8 Senate, from funds appropriated for the joint committee,

9 upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the joint com10 mittee.

11 SEC. 8. REFERENCES TO INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEES.

12 Any reference in law to the Select Committee on In13 telligence of the Senate or to the Permanent Select Com14 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives

15 shall, after the establishment of the joint committee, be

16 considered to be a reference to the joint committee.

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