SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. (a) Short Title.— This title may be cited as the “Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998”. (b) Findings.— The Congress finds that— (1) national security is a shared responsibility, requiring joint efforts and mutual respect by Congress and the President; (2) the principles of comity between the branches of Government apply to the handling of national security information; (3) Congress, as a co-equal branch of Government, is empowered by the Constitution to serve as a check on the executive branch; in that capacity, it has a “need to know” of allegations of wrongdoing within the executive branch, including allegations of wrongdoing in the Intelligence Community; (4) no basis in law exists for requiring prior authorization of disclosures to the intelligence committees of Congress by 112 STAT. 2414employees of the executive branch of classified information about wrongdoing within the Intelligence Community; (5) the risk of reprisal perceived by employees and contractors of the Intelligence Community for reporting serious or flagrant problems to Congress may have impaired the flow of information needed by the intelligence committees to carry out oversight responsibilities; and (6) to encourage such reporting, an additional procedure should be established that provides a means for such employees and contractors to report to Congress while safeguarding the classified information involved in such reporting.