Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

In addition to the directorates, the DHS also incorporates several

agencies that remain quasi-autonomous within the department, re-

porting directly to the secretary. Along with some obscure offices,

the Coast Guard, a member of the intelligence community, and the

Secret Service, formerly part of the Treasury Department, fall in

this category.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE. The Department of State, America’s

diplomatic service, was established on 15 September 1789 upon the

passage of “An Act to provide for the safe keeping of the Acts,

Records, and Seal of the United States, and for other purposes.” This

law allowed the department to assume some domestic responsibilities

that its predecessor, the Department of Foreign Affairs, did not have.

The first secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, was appointed in 1789,

and since then there have been 63 more.

The secretary of state is a statutory member of the National Secu-

rity Council(NSC), which sets intelligence policy through its inter-

agency mechanisms. The State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence

and Research(INR) is a member of the intelligence community

(IC) and provides intelligence support to the secretary and other ele-

ments of the diplomatic service. See alsoMORNING SUMMARY.

DEPUTIES COMMITTEE. The National Security Council’s

Deputies Committee (NSC/DC) serves as the senior subcabinet in-

teragency forum for consideration of policy issues affecting national

security. The NSC/DC can prescribe and review the work of the Na-

tional Security Council(NSC) interagency groups and ensures that

issues being brought before the NSC/PC or the NSC have been prop-

erly analyzed and prepared for decision.

The NSC/DC has as its regular members the deputies and under-

secretaries of the relevant executive departments, including the

deputy director of central intelligence (DDCI) and the vice chair-

man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The assistant to the presi-

dent for national security affairs (APNSA) usually chairs the

Deputies Committee, which focuses on immediate problems. While

the deputies have occasionally met to consider long-term policy mat-

ters, such sessions are unusual. They focus largely on producing op-

tions that can be acted on in a relatively short period.

DEPUTIES COMMITTEE•53

05-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 53