WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. House has passed the 2006 intelligence authorization bill that prioritizes the administration of the CIA, Pentagon and other agencies.
The bill passed easily by a 409-16 vote, and while its amount of funding is classified, it is estimated to be about $42 billion, the Washington Post said Wednesday.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement the bill will "prioritize the programs under the management" of new National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and implement the intelligence reorganization legislation that passed in December.
The measure funds the CIA, Pentagon intelligence agencies, the FBI's intelligence, counterterrorism and counterintelligence units, as well as agencies involved in intelligence within the State, Treasury, Energy and Homeland Security departments.
Officials told the newspaper the bill made significant cuts in the funding sought by the Bush administration for new high-tech intelligence-collecting satellites, transferring some of that money to increase spending on human intelligence and analysis.
