Bush signs intelligence reform bill

President Bush signed the intelligence reform bill into law Friday, culminating a lengthy and contentious process that has produced the legislative basis for a sweeping reform of the intelligence community.

The bill will bring changes in personnel and management issues for intelligence agencies, and it will create a position for a director of national intelligence. The legislation also has received criticism from some intelligence veterans who believe it misses the mark and provides insufficient budgetary power for the new DNI.

Specifically, Congress has used the intelligence reform bill to boost staffing and resources at the Homeland Security Department. Over five years, the legislation will increase the number of full-time border patrol agents by 10,000 and the number of full-time Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators by 4,000. Lawmakers also increased the mandatory retirement age of FBI agents from 60 to 65, and permitted the creation of a Reserve Service "for temporary re-employment of employees in the bureau during periods of emergency."

The State Department also could see a boost in the number of consular officers stationed at embassies and consulates around the world. The bill allows State to hire an additional 150 consular officers for four consecutive years-from fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2009.

The legislation also seeks to reduce the delays in obtaining security clearances for employees of intelligence agencies. The bill gives President Bush 90 days to select an agency or executive branch office to oversee clearances. That organization will keep tabs on clearance investigations, adjudications and mediating disputes. The agency will also standardize clearance application procedures and policies across the government. Lawmakers also require Bush-and the head of the selected clearance oversight office-to choose another agency to perform the majority of clearance investigations for federal employees and contractors. That decision must come within 180 days.

The top two lawmakers on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee-Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and ranking member Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.-praised the bill and thanked their colleagues for working together on the legislation.

"We are pleased that we were able to work together with the president and our colleagues to enact the monumental reform that our intelligence community needs to deal with global terrorism," the senators said in a press release. "We also recognize that our legislation is the platform for the work that lies ahead…. We will continue to work through the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to ensure the successful implementation of this landmark law."