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(U) Keeping Congress Informed
FROM:
Chief, SIGINT Congressional Issues Office (S02L2)
Run Date: 05/06/2004
FROM:
Chief, SIGINT Congressional Issues Office (S02L2)
(U//FOUO) One of the links available from the SID today page (under "SID Notes/Reports") is
the Congressional Notifications link. Here's an explanation of what this is all about:
(U) What is a Congressional Notification?
(U) A Congressional Notification is a letter signed by the Chief/LAO ( Legislative Affairs Office )
or the DIRNSA to the various committees ( HPSCI, SSCI, HAC and SAC and any other
committees having jurisdiction over the subject of the notification) informing them of a
"significant intelligence activity" or a "significant intelligence failure."
(U) Why do we do them?
(U) The National Security Act of 1947, Sec. 501 and 502, require that the "Director of Central
Intelligence and the heads of all...agencies...involved in intelligence activities shall keep the
congressional intelligence committees fully and currently informed of all intelligence activities...
including any significant anticipated intelligence activity and any significant intelligence failure".
To fulfill our obligation to keep Congress "fully and currently informed", NSA has implemented
NSA/CSS Regulation No. 010-01, Congressional Notification Procedures .
(U) What constitutes a "significant activity"?
(U) A proposed activity which meets one or more of the following criteria may constitute a
significant activity:
Activity raises or will have a major impact on foreign policy or national security concerns;
Affects significant intelligence resources (e.g. major cost overrun, termination of
contract);
Entails significant risk of exposure of comprise of classified information or intelligence
sources or methods, which would likely result in loss of human life;
Presents a reasonably foreseeable risk of a break of diplomatic relations, or a serious
deterioration in relations between the U.S. and one or more of its allies;
Activity has been directly approved by the President or the National Security Council;
Involves a proposal to authorize the export of "controlled equipment" under particularly
sensitive circumstances.
(U) What constitutes a "significant intelligence failure"?
(U) An activity which meets one or more of the following criteria may constitute a significant
intelligence failure:
Total or pervasive failure or compromise of a technical collection system previously
believed to be reliable and secure is discovered;
Pervasive failure to protect, or an unanticipated or thus far undetected compromise of, a
category of intelligence sources and/or methods is discovered;
Losses of intelligence sources and methods are incurred on such a scale, or over such an
extended period of time, that the possibility of a systematic compromise is indicated;
Unanticipated loss of life has occurred in the conduct of an intelligence activity, even
when the intelligence activity itself was successful;
Discovery of intelligence activities by foreign partners which have caused, or are likely to
cause, serious interruption or other damage to the conduct of U.S. foreign intelligence or
counterintelligence operations;
Serious compromise of classified information resulting from the provision of U.S. foreign
intelligence or counterintelligence information to an approved foreign partner;
Foreign intelligence or counterintelligence information obtained from a foreign partner
that is later determined to be false, if that information formed any part of the justification
for or was otherwise used in the conduct of, an intelligence activity which was notified to
the congressional intelligence committees;
Intelligence product that is found to contain a major error.
(U) What is the process for submitting a Congressional Notification?
(U//FOUO) If you are involved in an activity that meets any of the above criteria, forward the
pertinent information to SID Congressional Issues (DL SIDCI or
. SID Congressional
Issues will prepare and coordinate a draft notification which will be sent to the NSA Legislative
Affairs Office (NSA LAO). NSA LAO will obtain corporate approval and release the notification to
the appropriate committees. More detailed procedures may be found on the SID Congressional
Issues webpage .
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108