An open letter to the 117th Congress of the United States

As former Defense Intelligence leaders, we request and encourage you to support proposed legislative language enabling current leaders of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise (DIE) to fundraise on-behalf of non-profit organizations providing assistance to surviving family members of fallen Defense Intelligence officers.

Since 2000, the DIE has lost 54 officers in the line of duty. Existing legislation and assistance programs applying to Defense Intelligence components do not meet the needs of the families of these fallen heroes.

The Defense Intelligence Memorial Foundation (DIMF), a 501(c) (3) charity, was founded in 2019 to create educational opportunities for the children of fallen DIE officers. The DIMF supports all families who lost loved ones from the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the intelligence components of the Combatant Commands and Services. Since its founding, the DIMF has awarded three scholarships to these young men and women but has not yet been able to fully support the DIE for this worthy cause.

While current ethics rules and statutory restrictions prevent the Directors of DIE agencies from endorsing organizations such as the DIMF, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and U.S. Special Operations community have authorizations to enable similar charities supplying scholarships to the school-aged children of the fallen. The Director of the CIA, under the FY14 Intelligence Authorization Act, is empowered to fundraise and advocate for the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation. We, the undersigned, believe the DIMF should be granted the same authority with the same legislative language as that supporting the CIA.

On behalf of the DIMF, we sincerely urge you to support legislation which authorizes Defense Intelligence leadership to fundraise on-behalf of non-profit organizations providing support to surviving family members of fallen Defense Intelligence officers.

On behalf of those who will benefit now and in the future, we thank you for your consideration.