Rooney: Intelligence Authorization First Line of Defense Against Foreign Threats

 Congressman Thomas J. Rooney, a senior Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement regarding the House’s approval of the Matthew Young Pollard IntelligenceAuthorization Act:

“Americans are well aware we are always handling and facing new and evolving threats from foreign influences but without the proper authority, there’s no guarantee our Intelligence Community can defend and protect us from these threats,” Rooney, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee’s NSA and Cybersecurity subcommittee, said. “This legislation is absolutely critical to making sure we are prepared and ready to attack these threats head-on.” 

The Fiscal Year 2018 and 2019 Intelligence Authorization Act provides the Intelligence Community (IC) resources to ensure they remain capable of protecting and defending the United States. The bill also directly addresses foreign influence in domestic elections by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to publish an unclassified advisory report on foreign counterintelligence and cybersecurity threats to election campaigns for federal office.

The legislation would also require the Intelligence Community to provide reports on investigations of leaks of classified information as well as foreign influence campaigns directed at foreign elections.