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Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
Coming just over three years following the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon of September 11, 2001, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was largely born from a series of inquiries as to the failures which led to those attacks, most notably the 9-11 Commission, which pushed for, among other things, the creation of a new head of the intelligence community, from the former community structure which allowed for more autonomy among agencies. The Act attempted to reform the community, placing a new cabinet-level Director of National Intelligence with primary budget and management authority, who would also act as the President's primary intelligence advisor.
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
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Summary of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
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Key Provisions of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
- Establishes a Director of National Intelligence, to be in charge of the Intelligence Community and key Presidential advisor on matters of intelligence.
- Provides for a "lone wolf" addition to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows intelligence surveillance of those individuals who are believed to be involved in international terrorism, but can not be tied to any known terrorist organization. (This provision is subject to a sunset clause at the end of 2005).
- Requires semiannual reports to Congress by the Attorney General regarding the number of persons targeted for FISA surveillance, the frequency in which FISA information was used in criminal proceedings and summaries of major interpretations of FISA, including copies of FISC decisions.
- Mandates that intelligence and law enforcement entities of federal, state, and local levels facilitate and share information, and to synchronize standards for security classifications.
- Changes the structure of the National Counterterrorism Center.
- Mandates minimum standards for the issuance of personal identification (e.g. drivers licenses, birth certificates, etc.).
- Establishes an independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, comprised of private citizens appointed by the President to examine policies and make recommendations to the President regarding the ebbing of civil liberties.
- Allows for the sharing of terrorism-related information obtained through the grand jury process to state, local, and foreign governments.
- Redefines "providing material support to terrorism" by ensuring that one must know he/she is providing material support to a group which they know to be listed as a terrorist organization by the Department of State, and allows for one to apply for a waiver to the ban of providing personnel, training, or expert advice or assistance to a terrorist organization.
- Enhances the criminal penalty for those who provide material support for a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) program, of up to 20 years in prison, and makes the possession, attempt to possess, or conspiracy to possess a radiological device (namely a "dirty bomb") punishable by up to life in prison.
- Requires the FBI to update its information technology systems.
- Establishes the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center to monitor and prosecute the smuggling of aliens into the United States
- Enhances the government's ability to track down and prosecute those accused of financing or providing material support to terrorists.
- Requires the Department of Homeland Security to establish a biometric data system to track all non-citizens entering and exiting American borders.
- Requires the Department of Homeland Security to procure and test technologies relative to transportation security and securing the transport of hazardous or high-risk materials.