Intelligence Authorization Act Passes With Heinrich Amendment

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Martin Heinrich (NM-1) voted to protect Americans and build on his effort to strengthen our national security. H.R. 2701, the Intelligence Authorization Act will increase funding for human intelligence collection and counterterrorism activities. The bill passed the House by a vote of 235 to 168 with an amendment secured by Rep. Heinrich that would require the Director of National Intelligence to take proactive measures to eliminate gaps in foreign language proficiency.

"Maintaining and improving the language skills of intelligence agents is critical to keeping our nation safe," said Rep. Heinrich. "Through greater proficiency in foreign languages, we can improve our nation's ability to gather intelligence and help prevent potential terrorist attacks from ever occurring."

The 9/11 Commission identified a lack of foreign language proficiency as a factor in the U.S. government's failure to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In 2009, the CIA reported that only 13 percent of its workforce is fluent in a second language.

The bill improves the language capabilities of the Intelligence Community by:

* Adding funds for language programs and requiring reports on language capabilities to improve congressional oversight of a long-time problem area.
* Authorizing an expansion of the Boren Scholars program to help Intelligence Community personnel develop skills in critical, but under-resourced African languages.
* Making permanent the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program, which provides stipends to college students studying critical languages and other subjects important to the Intelligence Community.

The Intelligence Authorization Act authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, including the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System. The bill supports our intelligence officers by improving oversight of covert actions, directing essential funding for efforts abroad, and boosting foreign language capabilities to ensure that officers have the critical tools they need to carry out operations around the world.

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