U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

[(FRIDAY, October 1) -- In a bipartisan amendment offered Friday to the National Intelligence Reform Act (S. 2845) – now being debated on the Senate Floor -- Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) pressed for greater oversight of the FBI’s beleaguered foreign language translation unit.  Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Grassley, a senior member of the panel, which has oversight jurisdiction over the Department of Justice (DOJ), have worked together on a number of important initiatives to reform the FBI, most recently focusing on the foreign language translation program.  Their amendment is a response to a report – portions of which were publicly released for the first time earlier this week -- from DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) revealing major problems within the translation unit, including a backlog of thousands of hours of conversations of terrorist targets, security problems, and systemic difficulties, among others.  Questions about the unit raised by Leahy and Grassley more than two years ago were the impetus for the OIG audit.  The amendment clarifies and expands upon the existing requirements that the Attorney General report to Congress on the translation unit.  Leahy’s statement on the amendment follows.]  

Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy
In Support of The Translator Reports Act
To S.2845, the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 

October 1, 2004 
 

Mr. President, three years after thousands of Americans were killed in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, troubling doubts about the effectiveness of a major investigative tool in our anti-terrorism arsenal persist.  On Monday, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Justice released an unclassified version of its Audit of the FBI’s Foreign Language Program and the Translation of Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence Foreign Language Material.  The results are unsettling and deserve our immediate attention and action.   

The report shows that despite concerns expressed for years by those of us here in Congress and by former FBI contractors, among others, and despite an influx of tens of millions of dollars to hire new linguists, the FBI foreign language translation unit continues to be saddled with problems across the board, including growing backlogs, systemic difficulties, security problems, too few qualified staff, and an astounding lack of organization.  

What is the use of taping thousands of hours of conversations of intelligence targets in foreign languages if we cannot translate the material promptly, securely, accurately and efficiently?  

This translation mess has become a chronic problem that has obvious and severe implications for our national security.  The Administration has shirked its responsibility to resolve these problems and dodged its own accountability to the public and to Congress for this enormous failure.  The Administration owes Congress and the American public an explanation as to why it has repeatedly failed to take the necessary steps to fix these serious intelligence failings.  We need to know, once and for all -- and sooner rather than later -- what steps will be taken to get this job done.  

To expedite this process, I am offering for consideration today the Translator Reports Act of 2004.  I am proud to be joined in this effort by Senator Grassley, my friend from Iowa, who has been ever-vigilant in FBI oversight issues.  This Act clarifies and expands upon an important reporting requirement currently in law that has yet to be implemented by the Department of Justice.   

The Attorney General is required to report to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees about the number of translators employed by the FBI; the legal and practical impediments to using translators employed by other Federal, State, or local agencies on a full, part-time, or shared basis; and the needs of the FBI for specific translation services in certain languages, and recommendations for meeting those needs.   We saw this as such a high priority that we included this requirement in law.   

To date, the Attorney General has not made the report required by this law – most likely because there is no date certain written in the law by which the report must be made.  If the Attorney General needs a deadline, this amendment will provide a deadline.   

As history now dictates, we are going to have to prod the Department of Justice to get this information on a timely basis.  It is a process akin to pulling teeth and that is why this law is so important.  This amendment is the extraction tool for the teeth of the foreign translation program.  It fills the gap in current law by legally requiring the Attorney General to report “not later than 30 days after the date of enactment” and “annually thereafter.”  

This bill also expands that reporting requirement in several critical ways and in direct response to the Office of Inspector General’s Audit.  This is in keeping with the 9-11 Commission’s directive that Congress exercise greater oversight over the counterintelligence and counterterrorism needs of the Executive branch.  In its report, the 9-11 Commission noted that, “Even as the FBI has increased its language services cadre, the demand for translation services has also greatly increased.  Thus, the FBI must not only continue to bring on board more linguists, it must also continue to take advantage of technology and best practices to prioritize its workflow, enhance its capabilities and ensure compliance with its quality control program.”  I could not agree more. 

The FBI has, in the past, drawn a distinction between contract linguists and full-time employees when discussing hiring issues.  But for the purposes of getting the job done, this is a distinction without a difference to me.  We in the Congress want to know the status of hiring overall because it is the entire picture that we are concerned with.  This bill makes clear that the Department of Justice must report on linguists employed by and contracted for by the FBI. 

Our bill adds further reporting requirements that will be crucial to understanding whether or not the FBI is capable of fixing, and has fixed, the problems outlined by the Inspector General.   

If enacted into law, the Attorney General will have to provide Congress with current information regarding: (1) the status of any automated statistical reporting system so that we can ensure the FBI is monitoring workflow properly; (2) the storage capabilities of the digital collection system or systems utilized so that important data is not lost for technological reasons; (3) a description of the FBI’s establishment and compliance with audio retention policies that satisfy the investigative and intelligence goals of the FBI; (4) a description of the implementation of quality control procedures and mechanisms for monitoring compliance with quality control procedures; and (5) the current counterterrorism and counterintelligence audio backlog and recommendations for alleviating any such backlog.   

These reporting requirements are in addition to what is currently required:  hiring numbers and recommendations regarding the FBI’s future needs and the viability of using translators from other agencies and sources.   

This more detailed information will give Congress a better view and ultimately greater insight into how the FBI is handling this critical investigative tool.  With FISA wiretaps at an annual figure of more than 1,700, the FBI has a lot of catching up to do. And so does Congress in its oversight of this translation program.  With this bill, the information we will need to most effectively employ this important investigative tool will be at our fingertips.  I urge the Senate to support this important oversight and reporting bill.

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