Opinion ID: 3172147
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Committee on Foreign Intelligence

Text: In 1996, Congress added a Committee on Foreign Intelligence to the NSC System. See Intelligence Renewal and Reform Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104‐293, tit. VIII, § 802, 110 Stat. 3474, 3474–75 (codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. § 3021(h)). This Committee is composed of the President’s National Security Advisor, who serves as chair, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretaries of State and Defense, and such other members as the President may designate. See 50 U.S.C. § 3021(h)(2). Its sole statutory function is “to assist” the 30 NSC and, thereby, the President, by undertaking certain activities, set forth fully in the margin. Id. § 3021(h)(3).18 18 Title 50 U.S.C. § 3021(h) states that (3) The function of the Committee [on Foreign Intelligence] shall be to assist the Council in its activities by— (A) identifying the intelligence required to address the national security interests of the United States as specified by the President; (B) establishing priorities (including funding priorities) among the programs, projects, and activities that address such interests and requirements; and (C) establishing policies relating to the conduct of intelligence activities of the United States, including appropriate roles and missions for the elements of the intelligence community and appropriate targets of intelligence collection activities. (4) In carrying out its function, the Committee shall— (A) conduct an annual review of the national security interests of the United States; (B) identify on an annual basis, and at such other times as the Council may require, the intelligence required to meet such interests and establish an order of priority for the collection and analysis of such intelligence; and (C) conduct an annual review of the elements of the intelligence community in order to determine the success of such elements in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating the intelligence identified under subparagraph (B). (5) The Committee shall submit each year to the Council and to the Director of National Intelligence a comprehensive report on its activities during the preceding year, including its activities under paragraphs (3) and (4). 31 As is apparent from the listed activities, the Committee assists the NSC by reporting and recommending on, as well as coordinating, the nation’s intelligence gathering efforts as required to address national security interests “specified by the President.” Id. Insofar as the Committee is also charged with establishing priorities (including funding priorities) among intelligence programs, and policies relating to the roles of various elements of the intelligence community and the targets of intelligence activities, see id., such provisions might suggest independent authority if read in isolation. But statutory text is not properly construed in isolation; it must be read in context. See Utility Air Regulatory Grp. v. EPA, 134 S. Ct. at 2441. The context in which the Committee on Foreign Intelligence takes any of the actions listed in § 3021(h)(3) is established by its singular statutory function: “to assist the Council”—an entity whose sole statutory function, as we have already concluded, is to advise and assist the President. Where Congress thus grants only advisory and assistance functions to entities within a hierarchical system headed by the President, we identify no legislative intent to confer authority independent of the President on that system. Rather, we conclude that the Committee on Foreign Intelligence, like the Council, provides a forum for specified persons to identify national 32 security needs, priorities, and policies in order to transmit their recommendations upward for further action, and to provide guidance downward so that diverse departments—each acting pursuant to the authority of its own head—can effectively coordinate implementation of the President’s policies. Our reading of the text not to confer independent authority on the Committee is further supported by legislative history. See H.R. Rep. No. 104‐832, at 38 (1996) (Conf. Rep.) (stating intent for Committee on Foreign Intelligence “to provide better guidance to the intelligence community”); S. Rep. No. 104‐258, at 26 (1996) (stating intent “to provide policy‐level guidance for the conduct of U.S. intelligence activities”). In sum, because the sole function of the Committee on Foreign Intelligence is to assist the Council, and thereby, the President, and because it provides only guidance, not directives, to other parts of government, we conclude that it exercises no independent authority and, therefore, is not an agency subject to the FOIA.