Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022

This bill authorizes various intelligence-related activities for FY2022 and addresses related issues.

For example, the bill

• requires the National Counterintelligence and Security Center to periodically report to Congress and certain agencies;
• authorizes the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to support intelligence community activities related to personnel recruitment and retention, diversity, equity, and inclusion;
• establishes the position of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer of the Intelligence Community within the ODNI;
• prohibits transferring any National Reconnaissance Office element to the Space Force;
• establishes within the Central Intelligence Agency the Chaplain Corps to provide pastoral services;
• establishes a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of offering student loan repayment as a recruitment tool for certain Office of Intelligence and Analysis positions;
• prohibits any intelligence community element from collecting or analyzing a U.S. person's information based solely on activity protected by the First Amendment;
• modifies provisions related to submitting whistleblower complaints to Congress;
• requires intelligence community elements to immediately provide data relating to unidentified aerial phenomena to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center;
• requires each executive agency to establish an appeals process for individuals whose access to classified information has been denied or revoked; and
• requires a policy for the federal government on sharing derogatory information (generally information that may be relevant to the suitability of a federal contractor employee to have access to certain federal facilities) with an individual's employer.