Intelligence Community Support to Pandemic Preparedness and Response
May 6, 2020
Intelligence Community Support to Pandemic Preparedness and
Response
Introduction
defines as “information relating to the capabilities,
Congressional interest in coronavirus disease 2019
intentions, or activities of foreign governments or elements
(COVID-19) includes understanding its origins, how it
thereof, foreign organizations, foreign persons, or
evolved into a global pandemic, and the effectiveness of
international terrorists.”
measures to mitigate its impact on communities. Multiple
government agencies are involved in responding to these
Although foreign intelligence is primarily collected in a
queries both domestically and globally. The Intelligence
foreign environment, there are opportunities to collect
Community (IC), for example, supports disease surveillance
foreign intelligence and counterintelligence domestically.
efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services’
The IC’s authority to collect foreign intelligence and
(HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
counterintelligence within the United States is subject to
The use of surveillance in the COVID-19 response has
policies and procedures approved by the Attorney General.
raised concerns among privacy and civil liberties advocates
No foreign intelligence or counterintelligence may be
about what “surveillance” means, and which government
collected domestically for the purpose of indirectly
agencies are responsible for implementing surveillance
acquiring information about the domestic activities of U.S.
programs. There are also questions some have raised about
persons.
what the United States knows about the origins of the
pandemic and when it first learned of its existence. This In
Medical Intelligence
Focus describes and explains the IC’s specific role in
Medical intelligence is a category of foreign intelligence
pandemic preparedness and response.
that the Department of Defense (DOD) defines as
“resulting from collection, evaluation, analysis, and
Key Non-Intelligence Surveillance Terms
interpretation of foreign medical, bio-scientific, and
environmental information that is of interest to strategic
Public Health Surveillance. “The ongoing, systematic
planning and to military medical planning and operations
col ection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data
for the conservation of the fighting strength of friendly
essential to planning, implementation, and evaluation of public
forces and the formation of assessments of foreign medical
health practice.” The IC is general y not involved in public
capabilities in both military and civilian sectors.”
health surveil ance
Biosurveillance. “The process of gathering near real-time
Medical intelligence related to a pandemic could include,
biological data that relate to human and zoonotic disease
for example, intelligence on the foreign origins of, foreign
activity and threats to human or animal health, in order to
government reporting on, and responses to, a pandemic.
achieve early warning and identification of such health threats,
The IC role in collecting and assessing medical intelligence
early detection and prompt ongoing tracking of health events,
may include corroborating information from secondary
and overal situational awareness of disease activity.” The IC
sources and providing original reporting on matters that
may be involved in supporting biosurveil ance.
may not be publicly available. Examples of medical
intelligence that could be collected by the IC include
information that might indicate efforts by a foreign
Intelligence Community Authorities to
government to conceal or manipulate material regarding a
Conduct Surveillance and Collection
health emergency or evidence of efforts by terrorist groups
to weaponize biological agents to attack the U.S. homeland
The IC has statutory authority on the collection and
or interests overseas. Medical intelligence could be used to
reporting of information relevant to infectious diseases,
assess possible human, political, and economic impacts of
especially in the foreign environment. The goal of the IC, as
pandemics, such as threat to food and medical supply
stated in Executive Order (E.O.) 12333, United States
chains and the readiness of foreign or U.S. military forces.
Intelligence Activities, is to provide “the President,
National Security Council, and Homeland Security Council
Intelligence Community Collection and
with the necessary information on which to base decisions
Reporting on Health Security
concerning the development and conduct of foreign,
The National Intelligence Strategy of 2019 includes among
defense, and economic policies, and the protection of
its mission objectives the collection and analysis of
United States national interests from foreign security
information that provides indications and warning of events
threats.”
or changing conditions of concern to U.S. national security.
Foreign Intelligence
The strategy identifies infectious disease as one of a
number of pressure points that can exacerbate migration
Intelligence related to foreign security threats is generally
and refugee flows and contribute to international instability.
understood as foreign intelligence, which E.O. 12333
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Intel igence Community Support to Pandemic Preparedness and Response
In addition, the Director of National Intelligence’s (DNI)
These instances, when made public, triggered congressional
annual Worldwide Threat Assessments briefed to Congress
hearings in the mid-1970s that resulted in the establishment
have regularly included a general warning underscoring the
of the two permanent congressional select committees on
potentially devastating human and economic costs posed by
intelligence, the creation of a detailed statutory intelligence
the threat of a pandemic or global health emergency.
oversight framework, and strict limitations on IC domestic
These annual assessments do not provide specific
intelligence activities. Consequently, IC capabilities are
indications of a pandemic, however. Within the IC, those
necessarily oriented toward foreign rather than domestic
can come in the form of intelligence tippers (alert
intelligence collection.
messages) or summary products such as the President’s
Yet in extenuating circumstances could IC capabilities,
Daily Brief (PDB) drawn from multiple sources.
such as geo-spatial products and services, support domestic
IC Elements Supporting Pandemic
efforts to respond to a pandemic? The only explicit E.O.
Detection and Response
12333 exception allowing the IC to conduct domestic
Of seventeen IC elements, the ones that may be most likely
collection of information not constituting foreign
to support pandemic preparedness and response with
intelligence, which could conceivably involve support to a
medical foreign intelligence include the Office of the DNI
pandemic response, is the authority to conduct overhead
(ODNI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National
(satellite or airborne) surveillance “not directed at specific
Security Agency (NSA), National Geospatial-Intelligence
United States persons.” The NGA, for example, has
Agency (NGA), the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA)
previously provided support to the Federal Emergency
National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), and the
Management Agency (FEMA).
Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of
Therefore, while the IC has surveillance capabilities, it is
Intelligence and Analysis (I&A).
not currently well positioned to provide added benefit to the
The intelligence organization dedicated to providing the
capabilities of national, state and local public health
collection, analysis, and production of foreign medical
authorities in a domestic context. Supplemental
intelligence is NCMI. Staffed by epidemiologists,
appropriations measures have included CDC funding for
virologists, veterinarians, toxicologists, and medical
public health surveillance and disease detection both
doctors, NCMI supports DOD with products and services
domestically and globally. Public health surveillance is not
that could include warnings of disease outbreaks with the
an intelligence activity, however. Rather, it applies to non-
potential to cause a pandemic or global health emergency,
intelligence activities, such as health data collection, by
as well as foreign medical research and technology
national, state, and local health entities. Certain HHS
developments and the possible effect on U.S. or foreign
biosurveillance programs such as CDC’s Epidemic
military readiness.
Intelligence Service, also do not directly involve the IC
The HHS CDC Global Disease Detection Operations
community.
Center (GDDOC) and the DHS National Biosurveillance
Integration Center (NBIC) also compile information from
Relevant Statutes
the IC classified sources, international partnerships,
domestic surveillance in the field, open-source internet
Title 42 U.S. Code, §§247(d)-6, 300(hh)-10
research, and interagency coordination to provide early
Title 50, U.S. Code, §3002 (E.O. 12333)
warning of and timely response to a pandemic or global
health emergency.
CRS Products
Recently enacted legislation intends to clarify the IC’s role
CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10449, COVID-19, Digital Surveil ance,
in supporting pandemic detection and response. The
and Privacy: Fourth Amendment Considerations, by Michael A.
Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing
Foster
Innovation Act (P.L. 116-22 § 402, enacted June 24, 2019),
CRS Insight IN11361, COVID-19: U.S. Public Health Data and
among other things, integrates the IC into a government-
Reporting, by Kavya Sekar
wide network, the Public Health Emergency Medical
CRS In Focus IF11461, The Global Health Security Agenda
Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE).This entity is
(GHSA): 2020-2024, by Tiaji Salaam-Blyther
chaired by the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness
and Response with the goal of more effectively monitoring
and responding to a global health emergency.
As a member of the Enterprise, the DNI provides
Other Resources
assessments of emerging threats of infectious disease
DOD Instruction 6420.01, National Center for Medical
(along with assessments of chemical, biological,
Intel igence (NCMI), change 2 of April 25, 2018
radiological, and nuclear, threats, as required).
Section 205 of the Act also provides for the Secretary,
HHS to periodically update the DNI on public health
situational awareness and the biosurveillance network.
Michael E. DeVine, Analyst in Intelligence and National
The IC and Domestic Surveillance
Security
In the past the IC conducted domestic surveillance in
violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
IF11537
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Intel igence Community Support to Pandemic Preparedness and Response
Disclaimer
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11537 · VERSION 1 · NEW