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This bill would authorize funding for intelligence agencies in FY2020, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI). In addition to the CIA and DNI, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), plus intelligence divisions of the Dept. of Defense (DOD), National Security Agency (NSA), the State Dept., the Treasury Dept., and the Justice Dept. While its funding levels are classified, the bill prioritizes intelligence activities related to North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China in addition to requiring the publication of reports which are described in greater detail below.

Specifics about the total appropriations authorized for salaries and benefits along with personnel levels are classified. This bill would require Intelligence Community (IC) agencies to provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave in addition to the 12 weeks of unpaid leave that all federal employees may take under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

KREMLIN Act: This section of the bill, known as the Keeping Russian Entrapments Minimal and Limiting Intelligence Networks (KREMLIN) Act would require the DNI to submit intelligence assessments about the goals and intentions of Russia’s political leadership to Congress. Assessments would be prepared about Russia’s potential military action against NATO members, potential responses to an enlarged U.S. or NATO military presence in eastern Europe, and potential areas where Russia could exploit divisions among Western governments.

Vladimir Putin Transparency Act: This section of the bill would require the production of a report about the estimated net worth of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his family; Putin and his family’s legitimately and illegitimately obtained assets, property, and business interests; and methods used to conceal Putin’s connection to his holdings such as “front” or shell companies.

China’s Meddling in Taiwan: This bill would require the IC to report to Congress about influence operations conducted by China to interfere in or undermine Taiwan’s presidential and vice presidential elections, along with U.S. efforts to disrupt those operations.

Climate Change: A Climate Security Advisory Council would be established to ensure that IC analysts incorporate climate matters into intelligence analysis and coordinate climate policy with other executive agencies.

Domestic Terrorism: Several counterterrorism agencies, including the FBI and DHS, would be required to produce annual reports about domestic terrorism (including data).

Anti-Espionage Task Force: An IC task force chaired by the DNI would be tasked with examining IC collection against the illicit financing of espionage and foreign influence operations in the U.S., methods used by foreign actors, and constraints frustrating IC activities.

Prize Competitions: The DNI would be required to instruct the DNI to carry out prize competitions to leverage commercial innovation to incentivize:

Development and commercialization of technologies to automatically detect machine-manipulated media or “deepfakes.”
Research related to challenges associated with the transition to 5G technology.

Additional reports would be required regarding:

The death of dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
Influence operations by the People’s Republic of China in the U.S.
The role of retired and former IC personnel with respect to foreign intelligence operations.

","official_title":"To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 This bill reauthorizes for 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 chi...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that the declassified portions of this bill would cost $5.938 billion over the 2019-2024 period.","impact":"Agencies of the Intelligence Community; and Congress.","argument_for":"The Intelligence Community plays an integral role in ensuring the security of Americans and needs funding to do its job — even if the public can’t know how all of it will be spent.","argument_against":"Intelligence agencies should provide at least a general outline of how they’re spending taxpayer dollars on classified programs for the sake of transparency.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr3494-116","bill_id":"hr3494-116","formal_id":"H.R. 3494","chamber":"house","congress":116,"last_action_at":"2019-07-18T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2019-07-17T00:00:00.000Z","debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3494","plain_text_url":null,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr3494-116.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3494/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":null,"related_bill_ids":null,"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":159,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Ways and Means","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSWM","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Select Committee on Intelligence","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SLIN","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr3494-116","details":"/api/bills/hr3494-116/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr3494-116","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr3494-116/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr3494-116/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":0,"slug":"hr3494-116-damon-paul-nelson-and-matthew-young-pollard-intelligence-authorization-act-for-fiscal-years-2018-2019-and-2020","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr3494-116","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":886,"yea_vote_count":631,"nay_vote_count":252,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["government"],"issue_ids":["china","iran","isis-isil","north-korea","transparency","counterterrorism","federal-agencies","budgets","russia","russia-investigation","government"],"sponsor_id":250}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"china","name":"China","slug":"china","description":"China is a prominent player in the global scene, and its decisions can have a profound impact on the U.S. Tell your congressperson how you feel about current legislation related to U.S.-China relations!","page_title":"China Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/china/black_china-1429042057.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/china/grey_china-1429042057.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/china/white_china-1429042057.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"iran","name":"Iran","slug":"iran","description":"Should the U.S. sanction or negotiate with Iran? 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Should Congress Approve Intelligence Agencies' (Mostly Classified) FY2020 Budgets?