A bill to help streamline and enhance intelligence sharing at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was recently advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The legislation, titled the Unify DHS Intelligence Enterprise Act, was authored by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), who serves as a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency.
Specifically, the bill will require DHS to both develop and professionalize its intelligence enterprise (IE), which will enable Congress to ensure that the department’s leadership is reliably supported in its intelligence-gathering efforts.
A 9/11 Commission recommendation stated that the government needed to unify its counterterrorism efforts across government boundaries, the result of which ended in the formation of DHS in 2002. A 2014 report found, however, that the government’s ability to effectively measure the successes of IE efforts has been limited, which Perry’s bill aims to correct.
“As subcommittee chair, my responsibilities include making sure the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is held accountable and operating efficiently,” Perry said. “As part of that role, I offer this legislation. Ultimately, the bill helps Congress and the DHS fulfill the promises made to the American people after 9/11, sixteen years ago: ‘Never Again.’”
The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration.