Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005

INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005 -- (House of Representatives - June 23, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 686 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 4548.

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AMENDMENT NO. 2 OFFERED BY MR. GALLEGLY

Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Gallegly:

Add at the end the following new title:

TITLE VII-REFORM OF DESIGNATION OF FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

SEC. 701. DESIGNATION OF FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) Period of Designation.-Section 219(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)(4)) is amended-

(1) in subparagraph (A)--

(A) by striking "Subject to paragraphs (5) and (6), a" and inserting "A"; and

(B) by striking "for a period of 2 years beginning on the effective date of the designation under paragraph (2)(B)" and inserting "until revoked under paragraph (5) or (6) or set aside pursuant to subsection (c)";

(2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following:

"(B) Review of designation upon petition.-

"(i) In general.-The Secretary shall review the designation of a foreign terrorist organization under the procedures set forth in clauses (iii) and (iv) if the designated organization files a petition for revocation within the petition period described in clause (ii).

"(ii) Petition period.-For purposes of clause (i)--

"(I) if the designated organization has not previously filed a petition for revocation under this subparagraph, the petition period begins 2 years after the date on which the designation was made; or

"(II) if the designated organization has previously filed a petition for revocation under this subparagraph, the petition period begins 2 years after the date of the determination made under clause (iv) on that petition.

"(iii) Procedures.-Any foreign terrorist organization that submits a petition for revocation under this subparagraph must provide evidence in that petition that the relevant circumstances described in paragraph (1) have changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation with respect to the organization.

"(iv) Determination.-

"(I) In general.-Not later than 180 days after receiving a petition for revocation submitted under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall make a determination as to such revocation.

"(II) Classified information.-The Secretary may consider classified information in making a determination in response to a petition for revocation. Classified information shall not be subject to disclosure for such time as it remains classified, except that such information may be disclosed to a court ex parte and in camera for purposes of judicial review under subsection ©.

"(III) Publication of determination.-A determination made by the Secretary under this clause shall be published in the Federal Register.

"(IV) Procedures.-Any revocation by the Secretary shall be made in accordance with paragraph (6)."; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

"© Other review of designation.-

"(i) In general.-If in a 6-year period no review has taken place under subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall review the designation of the foreign terrorist organization in order to determine whether such designation should be revoked pursuant to paragraph (6).

"(ii) Procedures.-If a review does not take place pursuant to subparagraph (B) in response to a petition for revocation that is filed in accordance with that subparagraph, then the review shall be conducted pursuant to procedures established by the Secretary. The results of such review and the applicable procedures shall not be reviewable in any court.

"(iii) Publication of results of review.-The Secretary shall publish any determination made pursuant to this subparagraph in the Federal Register.".

(b) Aliases.-Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) is amended-

(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsection (b):

"(b) Amendments to a Designation.-

"(1) In general.-The Secretary may amend a designation under this subsection if the Secretary finds that the organization has changed its name, adopted a new alias, dissolved and then reconstituted itself under a different name or names, or merged with another organization.

"(2) Procedure.-Amendments made to a designation in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be effective upon publication in the Federal Register. Subparagraphs (B) and (C) of subsection (a)(2) shall apply to an amended designation upon such publication. Paragraphs (2)(A)(i), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) of subsection (a) shall also apply to an amended designation.

"(3) Administrative record.-The administrative record shall be corrected to include the amendments as well as any
additional relevant information that supports those amendments.

"(4) Classified information.-The Secretary may consider classified information in amending a designation in accordance with this subsection. Classified information shall not be subject to disclosure for such time as it remains classified, except that such information may be disclosed to a court ex parte and in camera for purposes of judicial review under subsection ©.".

© Technical and Conforming Amendments.-Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) is amended-

(1) in subsection (a)--

(A) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking "subsection (b)" and inserting "subsection (c)";

(B) in paragraph (6)(A)--

(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking "or a redesignation made under paragraph (4)(B)" and inserting "at any time, and shall revoke a designation upon completion of a review conducted pursuant to subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (4)"; and

(ii) in clause (i), by striking "or redesignation";

© in paragraph (7), by striking ", or the revocation of a redesignation under paragraph (6),"; and

(D) in paragraph (8)--

(i) by striking ", or if a redesignation under this subsection has become effective under paragraph (4)(B),"; and

(ii) by striking "or redesignation"; and

(2) in subsection ©, as so redesignated-

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking "of the designation in the Federal Register," and all that follows through "review of the designation" and inserting "in the Federal Register of a designation, an amended designation, or a determination in response to a petition for revocation, the designated organization may seek judicial review";

(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ", amended designation, or determination in response to a petition for revocation" after "designation";

© in paragraph (3), by inserting ", amended designation, or determination in response to a petition for revocation" after "designation"; and

(D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ", amended designation, or determination in response to a petition for revocation" after "designation" each place that term appears.

(d) Savings Provision.-For purposes of applying section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act on or after the date of enactment of this Act, the term "designation", as used in that section, includes all redesignations made pursuant to section 219(a)(4)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)(4)(B)) prior to the date of enactment of this Act, and such redesignations shall continue to be effective until revoked as provided in paragraph (5) or (6) of section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)).

SEC. 702. INCLUSION IN ANNUAL DEPARTMENT OF STATE COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM OF INFORMATION ON TERRORIST GROUPS THAT SEEK WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION AND GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) Inclusion in Reports.-Section 140 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f) is amended-

(1) in subsection (a)(2)--

(A) by inserting "any terrorist group known to have obtained or developed, or to have attempted to obtain or develop, weapons of mass destruction," after "during the preceding five years,"; and

(B) by inserting "any group designated by the Secretary as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189)," after "Export Administration Act of 1979,";

(2) in subsection (b)(1)(C)(iii), by striking "and" at the end;

(3) in subsection (b)(1)(C)--

(A) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (v); and

(B) by inserting after clause (iii) the following new clause:

"(iv) providing weapons of mass destruction, or assistance in obtaining or developing such weapons, to terrorists or terrorist groups; and"; and

(4) in subsection (b)(2)--

(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as (D), (E), and (F), respectively; and

(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new subparagraph:

"© efforts by those groups to obtain or develop weapons of mass destruction;".

(b) Effective Date.-The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply beginning with the first report under section 140 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f), submitted more than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 686, the gentleman from California (Mr. Gallegly) and a Member opposed each will control 10 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Gallegly).

Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is very important to the question of how our government spends its resources fighting international terrorism. The amendment streamlines the very burdensome and time-consuming procedure for redesignating a group as a foreign terrorist organization, thereby allowing the Federal Government to focus on actually fighting terrorism and preventing new attacks.

Under existing law, the U.S. Government must devote significant amounts of its counterterrorist resources to the terrorist organization redesignation effort. This bureaucratic process must take place every 2 years, even though the vast majority of these groups do not even dispute their designation. And, as we all know, some groups, such as al Qaeda, openly boast of their terrorist activity.

This amendment would make two principle changes to the law. First, it would replace the requirement to formally redesignate terrorist organizations every 2 years with a procedure that allows the groups to petition the Secretary of State at 2-year intervals to have their designation revoked. It would also require the Secretary to review each group's designation every 6 years.

Let me be clear. This amendment does not change the procedure for placing a group on the foreign terrorist organization list. The government must still undergo the same lengthy process that exists today.

What changes under the amendment is the every 2 year redesignation process. Currently, the burden is on the State Department and other agencies to demonstrate that a group should stay on the list. This amendment shifts the burden to the terrorist organization to petition the government to be removed from the list. A terrorist group can petition the government every 2 years. Even if a terrorist group does not petition for formal removal from the terrorist list, the government must still review the designation every 6 years.

By streamlining the process, the State Department and other agencies, including our intelligence services, can focus on designating new groups as terrorist organizations and focus on preventing new attacks.

For example, last year, 29 of the 37 organizations on the foreign terrorist list were due for redesignation. As a result, the State, Justice, Treasury and the intelligence community spent thousands of hours in preparing a detailed administrative record for each of these groups.

Meanwhile, back in March, the State Department designated for the first time the group, Ansar al-Islam, as a foreign terrorist organization based in north Iraq. The group has been linked to al Qaeda and is known to have participated in attacks on both U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians. The designation of Ansar al-Islam took longer than it should have, because over the preceding 6 months, Federal counterterrorism groups were bogged down in the redesignation of large numbers of terrorist groups.

The modified redesignation requirement proposed by the amendment will still provide designated terrorist groups with plenty of procedural safeguards. For example, a group can still request a court review of designation within 30 days after its first designation. In addition, the amendment allows organizations to petition the Secretary every 2 years to revoke its designation. If that review is not to the group's satisfaction, the designation can still be challenged in court.

The amendment also establishes a new, expedited procedure for handling the situation in which a terrorist group changes its name or uses new aliases.

The language on foreign terrorist organizations is identical to the provisions contained in an en bloc amendment to the Department of State authorization bill that was passed by a voice vote here on the floor.

Given the importance of this measure, I introduced it as a separate bill. It was approved by the Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights on March 17. In addition, this provision has the support of both the State Department and the Department of Justice.

Lastly, section 702 of my amendment requires that the State Department's annual report on terrorism include information on countries and terrorist groups that are seeking to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Experts on terrorism, both within and outside the government, agree that the nexus between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction is the most dangerous security threat faced by the United States and our allies. Therefore, it makes absolute sense to have the State Department's main report on terrorism discuss this linkage.

Mr. Chairman, I urge passage of this important amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 ½ minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith).

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Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my friend, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), for her positive comments and for the support.

Mr. Chairman, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.