An intelligence authorization bill pending before the
Senate (S-1083) would establish a National Security
Division within the Department of Justice, headed by an
Assistant Attorney General for National Security. That
official would likely oversee the Office of Intelligence
Policy and Review, and the Counterterrorism and
Counterespionage sections currently under the Assistant
Attorney General for the Criminal Division, according
to a congressional analysis.
It’s estimated that the new division would hire about 35
new employees, in addition to transfers in from existing
division within DoJ.
The measure also would authorize the FBI to pay cash
awards of up to 5 percent of an employee’s salary to
employees who use foreign language skills in support of
FBI analyses, investigations, or operations to protect
against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence
activities. The FBI has not said how it would implement
such an authority, the analysis said, noting that under
the Department of Defense’s foreign language proficiency
pay system for active-duty members of the armed services
who are proficient in a qualifying foreign language, the
average annual payment is about $2,200 per person.
