Report: The National Counterterrorism Center - Challenges and Issues for Congress

On August 27, 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order (EO) 13354 which established the National Counterterrorism Center (NCC). EO 13354 also provided for the role of the NCC and its leaders and the reporting relationship between them and the NCC's member agencies as well as the White House.

Then in December 2004, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, Public Law (PL) 108-458. PL 108-458 was Congress's effort to prescribe the duties and responsibilities for the NCC and its leadership.

Not surprisingly, The White House (in EO 13354) and Congress (in PL 108-458) didn't always agree on the implementation details about the NCC.

On March 24, 2005, the Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, published a 19-page report entitled The National Counterterrorism Center: Implementation Challenges and Issues for Congress. The purpose of this report is to outline the potential areas of agreement and difference between EO 13354 and PL 108-458.

Why does this matter to us? Because it is the Congress that is responsible for initiating and passing legislation relating to intelligence reform and counterterrorism. This legislation relates not only to national security but to civil liberties, particularly when Congress is considering collocating operational elements of foreign and domestic intelligence.