House passes legislation to help sniff out 'traitors'

The House has passed legislation to establish a program to prevent crimes from people in federal agencies who at one point were deemed trustworthy.

The bill, authored by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and passed on Monday, would create an "insider threat program" in the Department of Homeland Security intended to help employees "identify, prevent, mitigate, and respond to insider threat risks."

The legislation further directs the Homeland Security secretary to appoint a steering committee within the department to develop the program, conduct a baseline risk assessment, and track metrics on the success of the program.

King said that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, and contractor Aaron Alexis were examples of why the legislation was needed. Alexis killed 12 people in a shooting at Washington's Navy Yard in 2013, while the former two leaked classified information.

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