Congressional Proclamation on 85th Anniversary of the OSINT Discipline

U.S. House of Representatives

The OSINT Foundation would like to thank Congressman Scott Perry (PA-10) and the entire OSINT Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) for supporting our efforts at recognizing the 85th anniversary of the OSINT discipline in the United States. 

Click here to view the video recording. (please scroll back from the live feed to find Rep. Perry's remarks - comments begin at 1:09:00)

Full text of the Congressman's remarks are available below:

REMARKS REP. SCOTT PERRY (PA-10)

I rise today to recognize National Open-Source Intelligence Day, observed annually on February 26, and to commemorate the 85th anniversary of formal open-source intelligence activities in the United States.

February 26 marks the 1941 establishment of the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service, created to systematically collect and analyze publicly available foreign information during a time of global conflict. That effort laid the foundation for what we now know as open-source intelligence, or OSINT, including the responsible use of publicly available and commercially available information to support national security, policymaking, and informed decision-making.

Over the past eight and a half decades, OSINT has evolved alongside changes in media, technology, and global communications. In recent years, it has played a critical role in understanding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East, and strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific. Open-source intelligence has also been essential in enabling and cueing other intelligence collection and analysis. Its value lies not only in access to information, but in the rigorous analytic tradecraft applied to it, including adherence to privacy and civil liberty protections.

National Open-Source Intelligence Day recognizes the professionals, scholars, and organizations who advance this discipline and underscores the importance of transparency, accountability, and lawful collection practices. I commend those who serve the public interest through open-source intelligence and commercially available information, and I am pleased to recognize February 26 as National Open-Source Intelligence Day.