This document, developed in consultation with the Information Sharing Council (ISC), represents an interim implementation plan and serves as a roadmap for developing the comprehensive implementation plan for the ISE, which is expected to be submitted to the Congress in July 2006. In the past four years, the Administration has taken significant steps toward advancing our ability to share terrorism information. Through Executive Orders 13311 and 13356, the Administration laid the foundation for improving information sharing. On October 25, 2005, President Bush added to this foundation by publishing Executive Order 13388, "Further Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism Information to Protect Americans." That order makes clear the President's intent to ensure that the heads of all Federal departments and agencies who possess or acquire terrorism information shall promptly give access to the terrorism information to the head of each other agency that has counterterrorism functions unless directed otherwise by the President or are forbidden from doing so because of statutory and other legal restrictions. In parallel with these efforts, Congress enacted three laws providing the U.S. Government with greater authority for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating terrorist information: the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). In addition, the Administration has adopted the majority of information sharing recommendations put forth by the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. Today, the sharing of terrorism information takes place within multiple sharing environments within individual communities of interest such as law enforcement; homeland security; State, local, and tribal; defense; intelligence; diplomatic, and the private sector.

The attacks on 9/11 underscored the fed. government¿s need to facilitate terrorism-related info. sharing among gov¿t., private sector, and foreign stakeholders. In response, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act mandated the creation of the Info. Sharing Environment (ISE), which is an approach for the sharing of terrorism-related info. A Program Manager oversees ISE development with assistance from the Info. Sharing Council, a forum for 16 info. sharing officials from fed. agencies and dep¿ts. This is a report on: (1) what actions have been taken to guide the design and implementation of the ISE; and (2) what efforts have been made to report on progress in implementing the ISE. Includes recommendations. Illustrations.

Strengthening our nation s ability to share terrorism information constitutes a cornerstone of our national strategy to protect the American people and our institutions and to defeat terrorists and their support networks at home and abroad. Recognizing the need to go beyond individual solutions to create an environment the aggregation of legal, policy, cultural, organizational, and technological conditions for improving information sharing, Congress passed and the President signed the landmark Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). The Act requires the President to establish an Information Sharing Environment (ISE), for the sharing of terrorism information in a manner consistent with national security and with applicable legal standards relating to privacy and civil liberties. It also requires designation of a Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE). The PM-ISE, in consultation with the interagency Information Sharing Council (ISC), is charged with planning and overseeing the ISE's implementation and management. Among other duties, the PM-ISE is responsible for assisting the President in submitting to Congress an ISE Implementation Plan (ISE IP) that addresses eleven requirements set forth in Section 1016(e) of IRTPA.

In 2005, the issue of information sharing (IS) for homeland security was placed on a high-risk list of fed. functions needing broad-based transformation. Since then, the govt.¿s progress has been monitored in resolving barriers to IS. This testimony discusses 3 key IS efforts: (1) the actions that have been taken to guide the design and implementation of the IS Environment and to report on its progress; (2) the characteristics of state and local fusion centers and the extent to which fed. efforts are helping to address some of the challenges that centers reported; and (3) the progress made in developing streamlined policies and procedures for designating, marking, safeguarding, and disseminating sensitive but unclassified information.