INSA Statement on FY 23 NDAA

INSA STATEMENT ON THE ENACTMENT OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2023 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT (NDAA)

The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) welcomed the enactment of the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the president signed December 23, 2022. The law, which includes authorization for Intelligence Community (IC) activities, includes several provisions which INSA endorsed as ways to enhance collaboration between intelligence agencies and their industry partners.

INSA supported three provisions in particular:

• Section 6605, which mandates that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) develop a policy to provide security clearances to industry personnel whose corporate-level work enables their companies to perform classified projects across federal agencies. Examples include senior company leaders, attorneys, contracting staff, and others who work across a firm. Without this provision, with few exceptions, only staff providing direct support to contract execution would be eligible to receive a security clearance.
• Section 6603, which directs the Intelligence Community Inspector General (IC IG) to assess the adequacy of polygraph resources. The data from this assessment will help the IC and Congress determine how best to reduce the backlog in polygraph administration, which creates waits of as much as a full year – delays that hinder the execution of critical intelligence missions.
• Section 6606, which provides a technical correction to the previous year’s legislation that will enable the IC to share information on potential insider threats with industry.

Section 6605 is particularly important, as companies cannot execute contracts effectively if key personnel are unable to receive clearances. In a Federal News Network op-ed published on October 18, INSA noted that this provision, if passed, “ would greatly enhance contractors’ ability to support critical missions across the IC.”  A week later, INSA Chairwoman Tish Long endorsed this provision in a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. 

INSA welcomed other provisions of the law that enhanced personnel and facility security, including a mandate that the DNI develop timeliness standards for polygraph administration (sec. 6604) and an IC IG report on the utilization of secure workspaces that will likely lead to more efficient use of such facilities in the future (sec. 6607).

“INSA is pleased that Congress passed into law several provisions that will improve the personnel security process in ways that facilitate industry support to critical intelligence activities,” said Larry Hanauer, INSA’s Vice President for Policy.  “U.S. intelligence agencies rely heavily on the skills, experience, and expertise of cleared contractors to execute their missions,” Hanauer said, “and this legislation will mitigate impediments that have hindered public-private collaboration.”