HSA@20 Episode Companion: Intelligence
INSIGHTi
HSA@20 Episode Companion: Intelligence
May 15, 2023
This Insight accompanies the “Intelligence” episode of The Homeland Security Act at 20 podcast series
and includes background information on the issues discussed during the podcast.
Click this link to ask questions, provide feedback, or offer suggestions for future topics. You can
also e-mail the podcast team at HSA20@loc.gov. Thank you for your engagement.
Intelligence and Homeland Security before 9/11
• New York Times journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story of the intelligence
community’s illegal domestic surveillance in late 1974.
• This led to the establishment of two select committees in early 1975 to investigate past
intelligence activities.
• The investigatory work of these committees was the basis for establishing a permanent
congressional intelligence oversight framework:
o The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1976) and
o The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (1977).
• Concern over potential for new domestic intelligence abuses like those uncovered in the
1970s contributed to an institutional reluctance on the part of the intelligence and law
enforcement communities to collaborate and share information on threats to U.S. national
security, even in situations where it would have been legal and appropriate to do so.
• This ultimately impeded their collective understanding of domestic threats to U.S.
national security.
Post 9/11 Actions (Drawn from a Bush Administration summary)
• Selected post 9/11 intelligence community-related actions:
o October 8, 2001: President George W. Bush establishes the Office of Homeland
Security within the Executive Office of the President
o November 8, 2001: The Department of Justice (DOJ) announces a plan to
reshape the department to focus on counterterrorism
o March 5, 2002: DOJ establishes the National Security Coordination Council
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o May 29, 2002: DOJ announces further reorganization, including steps for the
reorganization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to better coordinate
with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
o June 6, 2002: The Bush Administration releases The Department of Homeland
Security reorganization proposal.
• Two investigative efforts that addressed the factors that contributed to a failure to prevent
9/11:
o The congressional Joint Inquiry Into Intelligence Community Activities Before
and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 (“Joint Inquiry”)
▪ S.Rept. 107-351/H.Rept. 107-792 (December 2002)
▪ Hearing Record
o The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (“9/11
Commission”)
▪ The 9/11 Commission Report (July 2004)
o Among their most significant findings relating to intelligence:
▪ The intelligence community failed to focus on the “collective significance” of the
information it had.
▪ The intelligence community lacked a culture conducive to sharing relevant
information within and between intelligence agencies, between the law
enforcement and intelligence agencies, and between intelligence agencies and
non-intelligence organizations of the U.S. government.
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA)
• Enacted December 17, 2004, as P.L. 108-458.
o The most comprehensive legislation to address shortfalls in how the intelligence and
law enforcement communities manage and share intelligence.
o Established the position of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to foster
greater oversight, efficiency, and collaboration among intelligence elements.
• The IRTPA also underscored the significance of the intelligence provisions of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002:
o Enacted November 25, 2002, as P.L. 107-296
o The act highlighted the importance of collaboration and intelligence sharing among a
diverse spectrum of intelligence and law enforcement organizations balanced by
respect for the privacy and civil liberties of Americans. (6 U.S.C. 121; 6 U.S.C. 122)
o The DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A)—created under DHS Secretary
Chertoff’s “Six-Point Agenda” effective October 1, 2005—is charged with ensuring
the dissemination of intelligence to law enforcement organizations below the federal
level and for receiving information from those organizations that might provide
insight on threats to the homeland.
Distinctions
• Intelligence generally refers to foreign intelligence and counterintelligence activities defined
under 50 U.S.C. 3003.
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o In statute—principally Title 50—the intelligence community is authorized to conduct
foreign intelligence and foreign counterintelligence operations.
o Foreign intelligence is defined in that section as “information relating to the capabilities,
intentions, or activities of foreign governments or elements thereof, foreign organizations,
or foreign persons, or international terrorist activities.”
▪ Section 902 of the USA PATRIOT ACT (P.L. 107-56) added “international
terrorist activities” to the definition in October 2001.
o If collecting foreign intelligence within the United States, intelligence and law
enforcement agencies have to adhere to the provisions of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 as amended.
• Law enforcement organizations are authorized to conduct criminal intelligence, which pertains
to understanding and mitigating the criminal threat environment within the United States.
o It is not defined in statute.
• Foreign and criminal intelligence overlap in situations where foreign persons or entities present a
threat of conducting criminal activity within the United States.
Defining the Intelligence Community
Current statutory members of the Intelligence Community (per 50 U.S.C. 3003) include:
(1) Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
(2) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
(3) National Security Agency (NSA)
(4) National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
(5) National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
(6) Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
(7) U.S. Army Intelligence (USA G2)
(8) U.S. Navy Intelligence (CNO N2/N6)
(9) U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence (USNC MCISR-E)
(10) U.S. Air Force Intelligence (A2/6)
(11) U.S. Space Force Intelligence (S2)
(12) Department of Energy Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (I&CI)
(13) Federal Bureau of Investigation Intelligence Branch (FBI/IB)
(14) Drug Enforcement Agency Office of National Security Intelligence (DEA ONSI)
(15) Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A)
(16) U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence (USCG CG-2)
(17) Department of the Treasury Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA)
(18) Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis (INR)
Homeland Security Threat Intelligence
• Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on “Worldwide Threats,” March 8,
2023
o Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community
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• DHS National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
• For more information on the intelligence community and homeland security, see CRS
Report R47229, Intelligence Coordination on Domestic Terrorism and Violent
Extremism: Background and Issues for Congress or the other works of Michael E.
DeVine on the CRS website.
• For more episodes of this podcast series, search “HSA@20” on the CRS website.
NEXT EPISODE
June 5, 2023: Border Enforcement.
Author Information
William L. Painter, Coordinator
Michael E. DeVine
Specialist in Homeland Security and Appropriations
Analyst in Intelligence and National Security
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However,
as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the
permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
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