Testimony of Jeffrey H. Smith Submitted to the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment of the House Committee on Homeland Security

The Markle Task Force's most recent report found that, although we have made much progress, we are still vulnerable to attack because-as on 9/11-we are not able to connect the dots. At the same time, our civil liberties are at risk because we don't have the government-wide policies in place to protect them as more powerful tools for intelligence collection and sharing information emerge.

The Markle Task Force offers recommendations to the Subcommittee regarding:

• Strong sustained leadership from within the Executive Office of the President and congressional oversight are needed to drive information sharing.
• All government information relevant to national security should be discoverable and accessible to authorized users while audited to ensure accountability.
• Enhanced government-wide privacy and civil liberties policies must be developed.