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Congressional Record: May 13, 1999 (House)
Page H3112-H3141

 
          INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2000

[...]

                Amendment No. 10 Offered by Mr. Sweeney

  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer amendment number 10, which is 
printed in the Record.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 10 offered by Mr. Sweeney:
       At the end of title III (page 10, after line 2), insert the 
     following new section:

     SEC. 304. PROTECTION OF IDENTITY OF RETIRED COVERT AGENTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 606(4)(A) of the National Security 
     Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 426(4)(A)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``an officer or employee'' and inserting 
     ``a present or retired officer or employee''; and
       (2) by striking ``a member'' and inserting ``a present or 
     retired member''.
       (b) Imposition of Minimum Prison Sentences for 
     Violations.--Section 601 of the National Security Act of 1947 
     (50 U.S.C. 421) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``not less than five 
     and'' after ``or imprisoned'';
       (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``not less than 30 
     months and'' after ``or imprisoned''; and
       (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ``not less than 18 
     months and'' after ``or imprisoned''.

  (Mr. SWEENEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Chairman, before addressing my amendment, allow me 
to first express my strong support for the intelligence authorization 
bill and commend the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Dixon), the ranking member, for their 
great work on this important bill.
  Mr. Chairman, our intelligence community is truly our first line of 
defense; and we must do everything in our power to ensure that our 
counterintelligence operations are as strong as our potential enemies. 
The amendment I am offering today is intended to complement this fine 
bill on an important national security issue, the protection of our 
intelligence agents.
  Mr. Chairman, my amendment simply increases the criminal penalty for 
individuals who expose covert agents and expands the Intelligence 
Identities Protection Act to protect the identities of former agents as 
well.
  First and foremost, my amendment establishes a minimum mandatory 
penalty for the willful identification of a United States intelligence 
agent. The existing criminal penalties against such an offense are 
woefully inadequate. While several lesser criminal offenses require 
mandatory minimums, few are as consequential to the interests of our 
national security as the protection of those who serve our country in 
this capacity.
  Secondly, the amendment extends the scope of these protections to 
former covert agents as only current agents are now covered by the law. 
By increasing the criminal penalties for disclosing identities for 
existing agents and by including former agents, my amendment 
accomplishes several important national security objectives and 
appropriately emphasizes the high priority with which we make national 
security. It protects agents and former agents from possible harm as a 
result of the disclosure of their true identities and past locations 
and activities. It also protects the entire intelligence network that 
often remains in place after an individual agent leaves his or her 
assignment.

                              {time}  1215

  By protecting retired agents, the amendment protects those active 
operatives who may have assumed the former agents' positions.
  Through the Freedom of Information Act people obtain information 
relevant to U.S. intelligence operations. Currently no statutory 
protection exists to prohibit identification of retired intelligence 
agents. This initiative strengthens the penalties against disclosing 
the information that identifies covert agents. Penalties in my 
amendment are proportional, yet tougher to those which exist under 
current law.
  The majority of our current and former intelligence agents serve or

[[Page H3123]]

have served the United States at considerable risk, Mr. Chairman, and 
there is absolutely no justification for exposing them to danger.
  Identifying current or former agents warrants serious criminal 
liability, and my amendment does just that. Ensure the safety of our 
intelligence community and provide adequate penalties to those who 
jeopardize America's national security by voting yes on the Sweeney 
amendment to H.R. 1555.


   Amendment Offered by Mr. Goss to Amendment No. 10 Offered by Mr. 
                                Sweeney

  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment to the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Goss to amendment No. 10 offered 
     by Mr. Sweeney:
       Strike subsection (b) of section 304, as proposed to be 
     added by the amendment and insert the following:
       (b) Imposition of Minimum Prison Sentences for 
     Violations.--Section 601 of the National Security Act of 1947 
     (50 U.S.C. 421) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``shall be fined not 
     more than $50,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or 
     both.'' and inserting ``shall be imprisoned not less than 
     five years and not more than ten years and fined not more 
     than $50,000.''.
       (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``shall be fined not 
     more than $25,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or 
     both.'' and inserting ``shall be imprisoned not less than 30 
     months and not more than five years and fined not more than 
     $25,000.''.
       (3) in subsection (c), by striking ``shall be fined not 
     more than $15,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or 
     both.'' and inserting ``shall be imprisoned not less than 18 
     months and not more than three years and fined not more than 
     $15,000.''.

  Mr. GOSS (during the reading). Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent 
that the amendment to the amendment be considered as read and printed 
in the Record.
  The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from 
Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, the perfecting amendment to the Sweeney 
amendment that I have offered I am told makes a technical correction. 
The amendment filed contained a drafting error, and as a result, would 
not impose a true mandatory minimum sentencing requirement, which was 
the intent. Whether we agree or not, the intent was to make it 
mandatory.
  The amendment clarifies the intent of the amendment to toughen the 
sentencing standards and impose mandatory minimums. I understand, in 
plain English, it is both a penalty and mandatory time.
  I would ask the gentleman from New York, is my understanding correct?
  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GOSS. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. SWEENEY. That is correct, Mr. Chairman, that was my intent.
  Mr. GOSS. Reclaiming my time, then, Mr. Chairman, and going to what 
that would leave us with on the Sweeney amendment if the secondary 
amendment is considered and approved is that we would have an amendment 
which would in fact deal with the Agent Identities Protection Act and 
put some more teeth into it.
  I would point out that Mr. Solomon, our colleague from New York, 
former chairman of the Committee on Rules, offered a similar amendment 
in 1981 which I am told passed the House by some 300 votes and then 
disappeared in conference, as sometimes happens.
  As Members will recall, the Intelligence Identities Protection Act 
penalizes the unauthorized disclosure of identities of covert employees 
and assets of the United States. This is willful disclosure, we are 
talking about here. We are not talking about an accident or a slip of 
the tongue or leaving a document someplace by a mistake. Those are bad 
things. We are talking about setting out to deliberately expose 
classified information that can result in harm to an individual, 
serious harm.
  Mr. Chairman, I understand originally that the act was offered in 
1979 by Chairman Boland in response to the disclosure of identities of 
CIA officers and assets by Philip Agee, Louis Wolf, and others. The Act 
is sharply focused upon present and former cleared employees and upon 
those who publish deliberate and repeated disclosures of the type found 
in the Covert Action Information Bulletin.
  The Act has been an useful tool for prosecutors and the intelligence 
community, although it has not been applied aggressively, as some 
prefer, including me. The U.S. government has charged some current and 
former employees, and as an apparent consequence of that, the 
disclosures have been abated. But it has been a pretty weak tool. It 
has not been able to be used as it was originally intended.
  I honestly believe that the amendment of the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Sweeney) does add extra strength, and does it in a reasonable way. 
We are not throwing out all the rules of judicial protection or 
anything like that. What we are basically doing is putting people on 
notice that for willful disclosure of agent identities, there is a 
penalty. It is a serious penalty, because it is a serious crime.
  Having said that, I will urge acceptance of the Sweeney amendment, as 
perfected by our secondary amendment.
  Mr. DIXON. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I would like to congratulate the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Sweeney) on his amendment. I will not object to it, but I do 
have some concerns with it.
  As I understand the amendment and the perfecting amendment, basically 
it does two things. It covers retired agents, but the concern I have is 
the decision to make penalties, whether they be incarceration or money 
fines, mandatory without hearings. Generally speaking, I am opposed to 
mandatory sentences. I have great faith in the Federal judiciary.
  I do not think that we should move this fast without some hearings on 
this to find out if this type of activity should be in the class of 
mandatory sentences. I would tell the gentleman from New York, I will 
not object to it, but I would like to reserve to discuss this further 
at the conference.
  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DIXON. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's remarks. The 
gentleman is correct in saying that what the bill essentially does is 
extend the protection to retired agents.
  Also, in establishing mandatory minimums, my intent was to raise the 
level of Section 601 to the highest levels and the highest priorities, 
which I believe our national security interests dictate.
  I will point out that what the mandatory minimum sentences that I 
have prescribed in my amendment do is cut in half the mandatory 
maximums, so I think proportionately, it is very reasonable.
  Let me also just say that in relationship to Federal mandatory 
minimums, there are hundreds, literally hundreds, as I am sure the 
gentleman knows, of Federal crimes, including food stamp fraud, 
including bribery of meat inspectors, that have mandatory minimum 
sentences.
  I think in order for this Congress to send a very strong message 
about the protection of agents and former agents, the inclusion of the 
mandatory minimum is an essential part.
  Mr. DIXON. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I may ultimately agree 
with the gentleman from New York. I just think it is worth more than 5 
minutes of time on the floor, and I will reserve to address this issue 
in conference.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) to the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney.)
  The amendment to the amendment was agreed to.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney), as amended.
  The amendment, as amended, was agreed to.




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