Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the select committeeA committee created for a specific purpose or period, usually to investigate something, rather than to hold permanent jurisdiction over a subject.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Intelligence.
Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020
This bill reauthorizes for FY2018-FY2020 intelligence activities in various U.S. government departments and agencies. It also establishes several intelligence-related programs and calls for reports on various topics.
The bill establishes a paid parental leave program for intelligence community employees. The program provides 12 weeks of leave in the 12-month period following the birth or adoption of a child.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) shall report on intelligence community policies for awarding contracts, including research and development contracts, involving certain foreign countries. The report shall assess whether security and counterintelligence risks are being properly considered in such policies.
The bill establishes the Climate Security Advisory Council within the ODNI to assist the intelligence community in the analysis of climate security issues.
The bill transfers the National Intelligence University from the Defense Intelligence Agency to the ODNI.
The bill requires reports on various issues, including (1) Russia's political leaders; (2) the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi; (3) China's influence operations in the United States and Taiwan and its repression of ethnic Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region; (4) domestic terrorism in the United States; (5) a plan to reduce the background investigation backlog to 200,000 by the end of 2020; (6) reforms to the security clearance process to reduce decision pendency times; (7) the suitability of the information currently requested for security clearances and recommendations for improving the process; (4) the advisability of having at most three tiers of trust and security clearances; (8) the advisability of a clearance in person concept, under which an individual is allowed to maintain a security clearance or eligibility for such regardless of employment status; and (9) the advisability of establishing the Foreign Malign Influence Response Center.
The bill also establishes (1) a task force to study the illicit finance of espionage and foreign influence operations in the United States, (2) a prize to stimulate research in technology to detect fake video or audio created using machine-learning techniques, (3) the Energy Infrastructure Center in the Department of Energy to analyze intelligence related to U.S. energy infrastructure security, (4) a board to advise the National Reconnaissance Office, (5) a program for sharing among government agencies and industry partners background information of individuals in or applying for national security positions and positions of trust, and (6) an intelligence community working group to periodically report to Congress on foreign investment-related threats to national security.
The summary continues for 5 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on July 17, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 18, 2019: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA) introduced it on June 26, 2019. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 26, 2019, 2633 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2611 days ago, on July 18, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers