It prohibits the intelligence agencies (and contractors) from using interrogation techniques (ie waterboarding and others) that do not comply with the Army Field Manual prohibitions against torture

It creates a statutory, Senate-confirmed Intelligence Community Inspector General with the authority to inspect, audit and investigate activities across the intelligence community.

It requires Senate confirmation for the first time of two agency heads - the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages the nation's spy satellites, and the National Security Agency, which conducts warrantless wiretapping on American phone and computer lines in what the White House calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program.