New limitations and reporting requirements should be imposed on intelligence contractors, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said in its new report on the 2009 Intelligence Authorization Act.
“Several provisions of the bill are aimed at reducing the overall use of contractors by the Intelligence Community. The Committee believes these provisions are necessary for financial and accountability purposes,” the report said.
One provision, advanced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein with Sen. Feingold, “requires a one-time report to the congressional intelligence committees by the DNI describing the activities within the Intelligence Community that the DNI believes should only be conducted by governmental employees but that are being conducted by one or more contractors [and] an estimate of the number of contractors performing each such activity.”
Another provision, also moved by Sen. Feinstein and other Democratic members, would “prohibit the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from permitting a contractor or subcontractor of the CIA to carry out an interrogation of an individual and to require that all interrogations be carried out by employees.”
Similar requirements were also adopted by the House Intelligence Committee last week (pdf).
The May 8 Senate report on the 2009 Intelligence Authorization Act, which includes many other significant intelligence policy provisions, is available here.
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