CIA, FBI Chiefs Categorize Terror
Threat Before Senate
By Jim Garamone
AFPS
The al Qaeda
terrorist network is still a significant threat, said the director
of Central Intelligence.
In prepared
testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,
Porter J. Goss gave his best estimates of the threats facing America.
He testified along with FBI Director Robert Mueller.
"We need
to make tough decisions about which haystacks deserve to be scrutinized
for the needles that can hurt us most," Goss said. "And
we know in this information age that there are endless haystacks
everywhere."
Defeating
terrorism remains the intelligence community’s core objective.
"Widely dispersed terrorist networks will present one of
the most serious challenges to U.S. national security interests
at home and abroad in the coming year," Goss said. "In
the past year, aggressive measures by our intelligence, law enforcement,
defense and homeland security communities, along with our key
international partners have dealt serious blows to al Qaeda and
others."
Still, al
Qaeda remains a threat both abroad and in the United States, he
said. "It may be only a matter of time before al Qaeda or
another group attempts to use chemical, biological, radiological
and nuclear weapons."
"Al Qaeda
continues to adapt and move forward with its desire to attack
the United States using any means at its disposal," FBI’s
Mueller said in his prepared testimony. "Their intent to
attack us at home remains – and their resolve to destroy America
has never faltered."
Mueller said
al Qaeda has evolved. "While we still assess that a mass
casualty attack using relatively low-tech methods will be their
most likely approach, we are concerned that they are seeking weapons
of mass destruction including chemical weapons, so-called ‘dirty
bombs’ or some type of biological agent such as anthrax,"
he said.
Goss said
that the al Qaeda is only one facet of the threat from a broader
Sunni jihadist movement, and that the Iraq conflict, "while
not a cause of extremism, has become a cause for extremists."
He said capturing
Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders would not be enough
to end the threat. Other members of this broader Sunni movement
would pick up the cause and move on. Al Qaeda has particularly
active cells or sympathizers in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Southeast
Asia and Iraq, and is becoming a greater threat in Central Asia.
Goss said
he believes North Korea continues to pursue a uranium enrichment
capability. On Feb. 10, North Korean officials claimed to have
atomic weapons. "North Korea continues to develop, produce,
deploy and sell ballistic missiles of increasing range and sophistication,"
Goss said.
The country
has a large stockpile of SCUD and No Dong missiles. "North
Korea could resume flight testing at any time, including of longer-range
missiles, such as the Taepo Dong-2 system," Goss noted. "We
assess the TD-2 is capable of reaching the United States with
a nuclear-weapon-sized payload."
Further, the
intelligence agency believes North Korea has an active chemical
and biological warfare program and "probably has chemical
and possibly biological weapons ready for use."
The CIA chief
said he was also worried about Iran’s nuclear program. Iran is
negotiating with the European Union on its nuclear program, but
several Iranian officials have said that the country would not
give up its nuclear processing capabilities. "In parallel,
Iran continues its pursuit of long-range ballistic missiles, such
as an improved version of its 1,300 km range Shahab-3 medium-
range ballistic missile," he said.
The director
said that Iran is allegedly supporting some anti-coalition activities
in Iraq and is "seeking to influence the future character
of the Iraqi state."
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**
Testimony of Robert S. Mueller, III Director Federal
Bureau of Investigation Before the Senate Committee on Intelligence
of the United States Senate
** Remarks Prepared
for Delivery by Cassandra M. Chandler Assistant Director, Federal
Bureau of Investigation Exchange Club of Capitol Hill
Testimony
of Robert S. Mueller, III Director Federal Bureau of Investigation
Before the Senate Committee on Intelligence of the United States
Senate
Introduction
Good afternoon,
Mr. Chairman, Senator Rockefeller, and members of the Committee.
I appreciate this opportunity to discuss our current view of threats
to the United States and the FBI’s efforts to address them.
Before I begin,
I would like to take a moment to thank all of our partners in
the Law Enforcement and Intelligence Communities. They have shared
their information and expertise, and in many cases worked side-by-side
with us, and together we made great progress over the past year
to protect our nation and our communities from terrorism and crime.
I would also
like to thank the men and women of the FBI for continuing to embrace
our changing mission, for working to enhance our intelligence
capabilities, for adapting to new technologies and new ways of
doing things, and for doing all of this without ever pausing in
our forward push to protect this country from active threats.
Mr. Chairman,
over the past year, through unprecedented cooperation, enhanced
intelligence capabilities, and continued unwavering commitment
to protect the American people, we have achieved considerable
victories against national security and criminal threats facing
the U.S. However, I must also report that these threats continue
to evolve and to pose new challenges to the FBI and our partners.
It remains
the FBI’s overriding priority to predict and prevent terrorist
attacks. The threat posed by international terrorism, and in particular
from al Qa’ida and related groups, continues to be the gravest
we face.
Al-Qa’ida
and Related Terrorist Groups
In 2004, our
efforts in the War on Terrorism grew more intelligence-driven,
more coordinated, and produced many tangible results.
In 2004 we
learned that operatives had conducted detailed surveillance of
financial targets in New York, Washington DC, and New Jersey.
In response to this threat, in coordination with DHS, the threat
level was raised from yellow to orange for the cities referenced
in the threat and we mobilized a large contingent of analysts
and agents to review the massive amount of information connected
with the attack planning, and to uncover any additional information
that would give us insight into the plot .
Previously,
in the Spring of 2004, our allies in the United Kingdom arrested
a group of terrorists who were plotting an imminent attack inside
the UK. In response, we immediately formed a task force of analysts
and agents to determine if there was a U.S. nexus to the plot
or if any of the UK subjects had links to individuals in the U.S.
Later in the
year, we received information suggesting that there was an attack
being planned — possibly timed to coincide with the 2004 Presidential
Election. To counter the threat, the FBI created the 2004 Threat
Task Force in May 2004. With thousands of FBI personnel, supported
by individuals from outside agencies, it was the largest task
force created since 9/11, and it brought to bear every possible
resource in an effort to identify the operatives and disrupt the
attack plan.
As part of
the Task Force’s initiatives, field offices conducted a thorough
canvass of all counterterrorism investigations and FBI sources
to develop any further information that could help us find these
individuals. During the seven months the task force was up and
running, we also checked every tangible lead provided in the threat
intelligence. It was an extraordinary effort and while we may
never know if an operation was indeed being planned, I am certain
that the FBI’s tremendous response to the threat played an integral
role in disrupting any operational plans that may have been underway.
Mr. Chairman,
since we last spoke, the FBI has identified various extremists
located throughout the U.S. and is monitoring their activities.
Although these efforts have made us safer, they are also a sobering
reminder of the threat we continue to face.
In Virginia,
Mohammed Ali al-Timimi, the spiritual leader of the Virginia Jihad
training group disrupted last year, was indicted for his involvement
in the recruitment of US citizens for extremist training and jihad
preparation. Al-Timimi, the primary lecturer at a northern Virginia
Islamic center, preached jihad to a small core group of followers,
provided them paramilitary training and facilitated their travel
to Pakistan in the days after September 11th to attend Lashkar-e-Taiba
training camp in preparation to fight the United States in Afghanistan
In Minneapolis, we arrested Mohamad Kamal El-Zahabi, a Lebanese
citizen who admitted to serving in Afghanistan and Chechnya as
a sniper and to providing sniper training at Khalden camp in Afghanistan
and in Lebanon in the 1990s. We first learned of El-Zahabi during
our investigation of Boston-based Sunni extremists Ra’ed Hijazi,
convicted for his role in the Millennium plot in Jordan, and Bassam
Kanj, who was killed in a plot to overthrow the Lebanese government
in 2000.
In New York,
Yassin Muhiddin Aref was arrested on money laundering charges
connected to a possible terrorist plot to kill a Pakistani diplomat.
Unfortunately,
in spite of these accomplishments, al-Qa’ida continues to adapt
and move forward with its desire to attack the United States using
any means at its disposal. Their intent to attack us at home remains
— and their resolve to destroy America has never faltered.
Al-Qa’ida’s
overall attack methodology has adapted and evolved to address
the changes to their operating environment. While we still assess
that a mass casualty attack using relatively low-tech methods
will be their most likely approach, we are concerned that they
are seeking weapons of mass destruction including chemical weapons,
so-called "dirty bombs" or some type of biological agent
such as anthrax.
Every day,
personnel in our Counterterrorism Division and in 100 Joint Terrorism
Task Forces around the country, work to determine where, when,
and how the next attack will occur. The fact remains — America
is awash in desirable targets — those that are symbolic like
the U.S. Capitol and the White House — as well as the many infrastructure
targets, like nuclear power plants, mass transit systems, bridges
and tunnels, shipping and port facilities, financial centers,
and airports — that if successfully hit, would cause both mass
casualties and a crippling effect on our economy.
We continue
to be concerned that U.S. transportation systems remain a key
target. The attacks in Madrid last March show the devastation
that a simple, low-tech operation can achieve and the resulting
impact to the government and economy, which makes this type of
attack in the U.S. particularly attractive to al-Qa’ida.
Another area
we consider vulnerable and target rich is the energy sector, particularly
nuclear power plants. Al-Qa’ida planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
had nuclear power plants as part of his target set and we have
no reason to believe that al-Qa’ida has reconsidered.
Looking ahead,
there are three areas that cause us the greatest concern.
First is the
threat from covert operatives who may be inside the U.S. who have
the intention to facilitate or conduct an attack. Finding them
is a top priority for the FBI, but it is also one of the most
difficult challenges. The very nature of a covert operative —
trained to not raise suspicion and to appear benign — is what
makes their detection so difficult.
Mr. Chairman,
while we are proud of our accomplishments this year and the additional
insight we have gained into al-Qa’ida’s activity, I remain very
concerned about what we are not seeing.
Whether we
are talking about a true sleeper operative who has been in place
for years, waiting to be activated to conduct an attack or a recently
deployed operative that has entered the U.S. to facilitate or
conduct an attack, we are continuously adapting our methods to
reflect newly received intelligence and to ensure we are as proactive
and as targeted as we can be in detecting their presence.
Second, because
of al-Qa’ida’s directed efforts this year to infiltrate covert
operatives into the U.S., I am also very concerned with the growing
body of sensitive reporting that continues to show al-Qa’ida’s
clear intention to obtain and ultimately use some form of chemical,
biological, radiological, nuclear or high-energy explosives (CBRNE)
material in its attacks against America.
Third, we
remain concerned about the potential for al-Qa’ida to leverage
extremist groups with peripheral or historical connections to
al-Qa’ida, particularly its ability to exploit radical American
converts and other indigenous extremists. While we still believe
the most serious threat to the Homeland originates from al-Qa’ida
members located overseas, the bombings in Madrid last March have
heightened our concern regarding the possible role that indigenous
Islamic extremists, already in the U.S., may play in future terrorist
plots. Also of concern is the possible role that peripheral groups
with a significant presence in the U.S. may play if called upon
by members of al-Qa’ida to assist them with attack planning or
logistical support.
The potential
recruitment of radicalized American Muslim converts continues
to be a concern and poses an increasingly challenging issue for
the FBI because the process of recruitment is subtle and many
times, self initiated and radicalization tends to occur over a
long period of time and under many different circumstances.
As part of
our continued efforts to identify populations that may be a target
for extremist recruitment, the FBI has been involved in a coordinated
effort between law enforcement and corrections personnel to combat
the recruitment and radicalization of prison inmates. Prisons
continue to be fertile ground for extremists who exploit both
a prisoner’s conversion to Islam while still in prison, as well
as their socio-economic status and placement in the community
upon their release.
Extremist
recruitment at schools and universities inside the United States
also poses a particularly difficult problem. Because the environment
on campuses is so open and isolated, schools provide a particularly
impressionable and captive audience for extremists to target.
Additionally,
keeping in mind al-Qa’ida recruitment efforts occur primarily
overseas, we are closely monitoring any possible methods for moving
individuals to extremist-linked institutions overseas, specifically
religious schools and mosques that have overt ties to al-Qa’ida
or other terrorist organizations.
We are also
concerned about the possibility that individuals who are members
of groups previously considered to be peripheral to the current
threat, could be convinced by more radical, external influences
to take on a facilitation or even worse — an operational role
— with little or no warning. Individual members of legitimate
organizations, such Jama’at Tabligh, may be targeted by al-Qa’ida
in an effort to exploit their networks and contacts here in the
United States.
Efforts by
extremists to obtain training inside the U.S. is also an ongoing
concern. Although there are multiple reports and ongoing investigations
associated with the paramilitary training activities of suspected
extremists nationwide, the majority of these cases involve small
groups of like-minded individuals who are inspired by the jihadist
rhetoric experienced in radical mosques or prison proselytizing.
Fortunately,
the recent amendment to Title 18 adding a provision whereby an
individual knowingly receiving military-type training from a designated
foreign terrorist organization is committing an offense, makes
it possible to now prosecute individuals who participate or assist
individuals in receiving this type of training.
Another area
of concern is the recent merging of Iraqi jihadist leader Abu
Mu’sab al-Zarqawi with al-Qa’ida. Zarqawi has a demonstrated capability
of directing external operations while maintaining his focus on
Iraq as noted with the disrupted Jordan plot in April.
Another aspect
of extremist activity in the U.S. is the extensive fundraising
efforts by various terrorist groups. We continue to identify and
block funding conduits, freeze assets of terrorists and those
who support them, protect legitimate charities, and disrupt the
movement of money through peripheral financial systems such as
Hawalas.
As part of
this effort, the FBI has engaged in extensive coordination with
authorities of numerous foreign governments in terrorist financing
matters, leading to joint investigative efforts throughout the
world. The FBI’s participation in a U.S. – Saudi Arabia Joint
Terrorism Task Force, the U.S. – Swiss Terrorism Financing Task
Force and the International Working Group on Terrorist Financing
has enhanced cooperation between these agencies and the U.S. and
allowed the FBI unprecedented access that has increased our understanding
of these complex financing networks. Since 2002, we have provided
terrorism financing training and technical assistance to liaison
partners in almost 50 countries.
The Threat
from Other International Terrorist Groups
Mr. Chairman,
al-Qa’ida and the groups that support it are still the most lethal
threat we face today. However, other terrorist groups that have
a presence in the U.S. require careful monitoring.
It is the
FBI’s assessment, at this time, that there is a limited threat
of a coordinated terrorist attack in the U.S. from Palestinian
terrorist organizations, such as HAMAS, the Palestine Islamic
Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade. These groups have maintained
a longstanding policy of focusing their attacks on Israeli targets
in Israel and the Palestinian territories. We believe that the
primary interest of Palestinian terrorist groups in the U.S. remains
the raising of funds to support their regional goals.
The FBI is
committed to staunching the flow of funds from the U.S. to Palestinian
terrorist organizations. As an example of this effort, the former
leadership of the Holy Land for Relief and Development, a HAMAS
front organization, was indicted this past year and convictions
were won against the Elashi brothers who owned and ran Infocom,
another HAMAS front organization.
Of all the
Palestinian groups, HAMAS has the largest presence in the U.S.
with a robust infrastructure, primarily focused on fundraising,
propaganda for the Palestinian cause, and proselytizing. Although
it would be a major strategic shift for HAMAS, its U.S. network
is theoretically capable of facilitating acts of terrorism in
the U.S.
Like HAMAS,
but on a much smaller scale, U.S.-based Palestine Islamic Jihad
members and supporters are primarily engaged in fundraising, propaganda
and proselytizing activities. In 2003, the Palestine Islamic Jihad,
or PIJ, activities and capabilities in the U.S. were severely
undercut by the arrests of the U.S. PIJ leader, Sami al-Arian,
and three of his top lieutenants. There have also been two additional
arrests of suspected PIJ activists on charges unrelated to terrorism.
There has been no indication of a new U.S. PIJ leadership since
the arrest of al-Arian.
Currently,
the most likely threat of terrorist attacks from Palestinian groups
to the U.S. homeland is from a "lone wolf" scenario.
In this scenario, a terrorist attack would be perpetrated by one
or more individuals who may embrace the ideology of a Palestinian
terrorist group, but act without assistance or approval of any
established group.
Lebanese Hizballah
retains the capability to strike in the U.S., although we have
no credible information to indicate that US-based Hizballah members
have plans to attack American interests within the U.S. or abroad.
In 2004, we had some success in uncovering individuals providing
material support to Hizballah.
In Detroit,
Mahmoud Youssef Kourani was indicted in the Eastern District of
Michigan on one count of Conspiracy to Provide Material Support
to Hizballah. Kourani was already in custody for entering the
country illegally through Mexico and was involved in fundraising
activities on behalf of Hizballah.
Also in Detroit,
Fawzi Assi was arrested in May of 2004 and was charged under the
1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act for providing
material support to Hizballah. Assi was initially arrested in
1998 after an outbound US Customs search at the Detroit Metro
Airport discovered night vision goggles, one thermal imaging scope
and two Boeing Global Positioning System devices. Assi later fled
the country after being released by the court on bail but was
later turned over to us in Lebanon to face US criminal charges.
The Threat from Domestic Terrorism
While national
attention is focused on the substantial threat posed by international
terrorists to the homeland, law enforcement officials must also
contend with an ongoing threat posed by domestic terrorists based
and operating strictly within the U.S. Domestic terrorists motivated
by a number of political or social agendas — including white
supremacists, black separatists, animal rights/environmental terrorists,
anarchists, anti-abortion extremists, and self-styled militia
— continue to employ violence and criminal activity in furtherance
of these agendas.
Animal rights
and environmental extremists, operating under the umbrella of
the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
utilize a variety of tactics against their targets, including
arson, sabotage/vandalism, theft of research animals, and the
occasional use of explosive devices.
Serious incidents
of animal rights/eco-terrorism decreased in 2004, a fact we attribute
to a series of law enforcement successes that are likely deterring
large-scale arsons and property destruction. Following a rash
of serious incidents of animal rights/eco-terrorism, including
a $50 million arson in San Diego and two bombing incidents in
the San Francisco area, law enforcement authorities achieved several
significant successes which have likely deterred additional terrorist
activity. Despite these successes, we anticipate that animal rights
extremism and eco-terrorism will continue to threaten certain
segments of government and private industry, specifically in the
areas of animal research and residential/commercial development.
The potential
for violence by anarchists and other emerging revolutionary groups,
such as the Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF), will continue
to be an issue for law enforcement. The stated goals of the ABCF
are "the abolishment of prisons, the system of laws, and
the Capitalist state." The ABCF believes in armed resistance
to achieve a stateless and classless society. ABCF has continued
to organize, recruit, and train anarchists in the tactical use
of firearms.
US-based black
separatist groups follow radical variants of Islam, and in some
cases express solidarity with al-Qa’ida and other international
terrorist groups.
Incidents
of organized white supremacist group violence decreased in 2004.
This is due to several high profile law enforcement arrests over
the last several years, as well as the continued fragmentation
of white supremacist groups because of the deaths or the arrests
of leaders. We judge that violence on the part of white supremacists
remains an ongoing threat to government targets, Jewish individuals
and establishments, and non-white ethnic groups.
However, the
right-wing Patriot movement — consisting of militias, common
law courts, tax protesters, and other anti-government extremists
— remains a continuing threat in America today. Sporadic incidents
resulting in direct clashes with law enforcement are possible
and will most likely involve state and local law enforcement personnel,
such as highway patrol officers and sheriff’s deputies.
Potential
violent anti-abortion extremists linked to terrorism ideologies
or groups pose a current threat. The admiration of violent high-profile
offenders by extremists highlight continued concerns relating
to potential or similar anti-abortion threat activity.
WMD Proliferation
and other Foreign Intelligence Threats
Although the
impact of terrorism is more immediate and highly visible, espionage
and foreign intelligence activity are no less a threat to the
US national security. Many countries consider the US to be their
primary intelligence target; so long as the US maintains its position
in world affairs, it will continue to be targeted. As part of
its reinvigorated and refocused foreign counterintelligence (FCI)
program, the FBI has applied a more rigorous methodology to its
efforts to assess and articulate the current threat environment.
One of the
key elements of the FBI’s National Strategy for Counterintelligence
(adopted in August 2002) is the threat assessment. Over the past
two years, the FBI has produced comprehensive threat assessments
on several countries deemed to be of particular CI concern. The
National Strategy for Counterintelligence identified five categories
of foreign intelligence activity as being especially harmful to
the US national security. These five categories of activity are
weighted in terms of importance, the in the following order:
Proliferation
of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-energy
explosives (CBRNE) information and technology:
-
Penetration
of the US Intelligence Community (USIC)
-
Penetration
of US Government entities and contractors
-
Compromise
of Critical National Assets (CNAs), defined as any information,
policies, plans, technologies, or industries that, if stolen,
modified, or manipulated by an adversary would seriously threaten
US national or economic security; and
-
Conduct
of clandestine foreign intelligence activities in the US.
Several countries
have traditionally considered the US to be their primary intelligence
target, as well as an adversary or threat. This prioritization
is manifested through their continued large and active intelligence
presence in the US and their aggressive targeting of US persons,
information and technology. Other countries, while not necessarily
viewing the U.S. as an adversary or threat, seek information to
help them compete economically, militarily, and politically in
world affairs. As the current leader in all three areas, the US
becomes their primary target. For still other countries, rather
than being an intelligence target, the US represents an operating
environment in which to conduct intelligence-related activities
focused on their domestic security.
Some foreign
countries are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their CI
awareness, training and capabilities. Also of growing concern
is the asymmetrical threat posed by certain intelligence services
that supplement their collection capabilities in the US by using
non-traditional collectors. These collectors include students,
delegations, business visitors, émigrés, and retired
intelligence officers who are collecting against targets of opportunity
or responding to ad hoc requests from the intelligence services.
Such non-traditional collectors pose a potential threat across
the US, requiring a coordinated response by all FBI field offices.
The FBI does
not foresee any significant changes in the official foreign intelligence
presence in the US over the next two to three years. However,
in addition to using non-traditional collectors, several countries
appear to be exploiting their military liaison officers, who are
in the US on overt, legitimate intelligence-sharing missions,
to target and collect sensitive defense information that is outside
the scope of their official access. Most difficult to identify
and assess is the intelligence collection activity being directed
and/or conducted by non-intelligence organizations, such as other
foreign government agencies and/or foreign companies. The FBI
sees this type of activity most frequently in the targeting and
collection of CBRNE information and technology.
Another challenge
the FBI will face is the tendency of some foreign intelligence
services to leverage liaison relationships for intelligence collection
purposes. US Government representatives participating in international
conferences and exchanges, or whose duties include routine liaison
with foreign intelligence representatives, frequently report that
their contacts engage in elicitation, sometimes to a surprisingly
aggressive level.
The FBI expects
to see a continued increase in the use of technology as an enabler
for intelligence operations, such as contacting, tasking, and
debriefing sources and agents in the US.
Over the
near term, the priority collection targets for these countries
will be:
-
The
effects of the recent 2004 US elections on US foreign and domestic
policies;
-
US
military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan;
-
US
counterterrorism policy;
-
US
dual use technologies; and
-
US
policy vis-à-vis particular countries or regions of the
world.
The FBI expects
to see continued lobbying, political influence, and/or perception
management activities by countries hoping to affect US policy.
Many foreign
intelligence services will also continue to exploit their presence
in the US to target and collect against third countries. Most
will also engage in defensive intelligence activities, targeting
their own expatriate and ethnic communities in the US, especially
those groups deemed to be a threat to the current regime.
The FBI’s
National Strategy for Counterintelligence sets forth national
priorities and strategic objectives as well as changes in management
and organizational culture intended to redirect and significantly
enhance the overall performance of the FBI’s FCI program. Program
objectives and outcomes include:
-
Identify
intelligence service objectives, officers, assets, and operations;
-
Disrupt
the operations of intelligence services; and
-
Change
the behavior of exploited institutions and individuals.
To that
end, the FBI has identified five program strategies:
1. Know the
Domain
2. Understand
the Threat
3. Engage
in Strategic Partnerships
4. Conduct
Sophisticated Operations
5. Inform
Policymakers.
During
FY 2004, the FBI FCI program accomplished the following:
-
Six
foreign intelligence officers and/or agents were arrested;
-
67
requests for persona non grata actions and visa denials were
issued;
-
1,667
Intelligence Information Reports were disseminated.
In addition,
the Asset Validation Review process was implemented in July 2002,
and the FBI began providing mandatory asset validation training
for Asset Coordinators in the field regarding procedures and policies.
The FBI also implemented the Agents in Laboratories Initiative
(AILI) in February 2003, through which FBI agents have been placed
in Department of Energy nuclear weapons and science laboratories.
The FBI has
also developed several strategic partnerships, to include the
Regional CI Working Group (RCIWG) Initiative, which was established
in October 2003 to implement the National Strategy for Counterintelligence,
leverage the RCIWGs in tasking our USIC partners, address intelligence
gaps, identify CI trends and priorities in the operational arena
among USIC agencies at the field level, and ensure that all CI
operational initiatives and projects across agencies are coordinated
through the FBI.
Similarly,
the National CI Working Group (NCIWG) was established and is led
by the FBI and consists of other CI agency head-level representatives.
The mission is to establish ongoing interagency planning discussions
to better coordinate CI operations USIC-wide. Domain Task Forces
are CI project level task forces led by the FBI, in vulnerabilities
associated with at-risk national security projects, i.e., sensitive
technologies, information, and research and development.
FBI field
offices are developing "business alliances" to build
executive-level relationships and foster threat and vulnerability
information sharing, with private industries and academic institutions
located within their territories having at-risk and sensitive
national security and economic technologies, research and development
projects.
Finally, the
FBI has reinvigorated its CI training process. For example, field
agents are trained in the key components of basic CI operations
through an intensive four-week Basic CI Operations course. Other
advanced, highly specialized CI courses and seminars provide training
to agents and analysts through a variety of innovative instructional
methods and include in-services and conferences, the Interactive
Multimedia Instruction and Simulation (IMIS) computer-based training
program, and the FBI Intranet.
Cyber
Threats
The cyber-threat
to the U.S. is serious and continues to expand rapidly the number
of actors with both the ability and the desire to utilize computers
for illegal and harmful purposes rises.
Cyber threats
stems from both state actors, including foreign governments that
use their vast resources to develop cyber technologies with which
to attack our networks, and non-state actors such as terrorist
groups and hackers that act independently of foreign governments.
The increasing number of foreign governments and non-state actors
exploiting U.S. computer networks is a major concern to the FBI
and the Intelligence Community as a whole.
State actors
continue to be a threat to both our national security as well
as our economic security because they have the technical and financial
resources to support advanced network exploitation and attack.
The greatest cyber threat is posed by countries that continue
to openly conduct computer network attacks and exploitations on
American systems.
Terrorists
show a growing understanding of the critical role that information
technology plays in the day-to-day operations of our economy and
national security. Their recruitment efforts have expanded to
include young people studying mathematics, computer science and
engineering in an effort to move from the limited physical attacks
to attacks against our technical systems.
Fortunately,
the large majority of hackers do not have the resources or motivation
to attack the US critical information infrastructures. Most targets
of the hacker are viewed as "challenges" to break into
a system. These individuals do not introduce malicious code to
the system but usually leave their "cyber signature."
Although a nuisance, the single hacker does not pose a great threat;
however, the increasing volume of hacking activity worldwide does
inadvertently disrupt networks, including that of the U.S. information
infrastructures. Hackers that plant malicious code or upload bots
that are designed to steal information are the main threats in
this group. These individuals have the ability to take down a
system or steal trade secrets, either of which can be devastating
to a company or agency.
The growing
number of hackers motivated by money is a cause for concern. If
this pool of talent is utilized by terrorists, foreign governments
or criminal organizations, the potential for a successful cyber
attack on our critical infrastructures is greatly increased.
To combat
these and other cyber threats, the FBI established a national
cyber program with a Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters and dedicated
cyber squads in the field offices. The program enables us to coordinate
and facilitate investigations of those federal criminal violations
using the Internet, computer systems, or networks. It also helps
us to build and maintain public/private alliances to maximize
counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and law enforcement cyber
response capabilities. We are also working to aggregate the technological
and investigative expertise necessary to meet the challenges that
lie ahead. We are recruiting and hiring individuals who possess
degrees and experience in computer sciences, information systems,
or related disciplines. We are looking for specialists who possess
a bedrock of experience and a profound understanding of the cyber
world.
Converging
Criminal Threats
It is increasingly
the case that counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, and
criminal investigations are interrelated. There are rarely clear
dividing lines that distinguish terrorist, counterintelligence,
and criminal activity. Recognizing this trend toward convergence,
the first priority of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Program
is to leverage criminal investigative resources to enhance the
FBI’s Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Cyber programs.
Terrorists
use criminal enterprises and criminal activities to support and
fund terrorist organizations. The FBI’s criminal investigations
of these crimes and criminal enterprises, often in task forces
in conjunction with other federal, state, and local law enforcement,
continue to develop invaluable intelligence, as well as to initiate
investigations, which further identify the United States’ vulnerability
to attack and directly support the FBI’s and the Intelligence
Community’s counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cyber crime
efforts.
One of the
FBI’s first investigations to utilize the material support of
a terrorist organization statute evolved from a criminal investigation
of Hizballah operators utilizing credit card scams, cigarette
smuggling and loan fraud to support the purchase of dual use equipment
for Hizballah procurement leaders in Lebanon. The FBI used the
criminal RICO statute to fully neutralize this terrorist cell.
In combatting
converging threats, the FBI’s Criminal Program is placing greater
emphasis on the collection, analysis, dissemination and effective
use of intelligence, including intelligence derived from criminal
investigations, including intelligence derived from human sources
and the use of sophisticated investigative techniques. We are
using intelligence to identify crime problems and trends, to conduct
threat assessments, and to drive investigative efforts. Currently,
we are aggressively pursuing intelligence collection and threat
assessments on Organized Crime, Human Smuggling and Trafficking,
Violent Gangs, Public Corruption, Civil Rights, and Middle Eastern
Criminal Enterprises.
After CT,
CI, and Cyber, the Criminal Investigative Program’s other priorities
in descending order are Criminal Intelligence, Public Corruption,
Civil Rights, Violent Gangs, Criminal Enterprises, Corporate and
Securities Fraud, Health Care Fraud, Mortgage Fraud, Major Financial
Institution Fraud, and Crimes Against Children and other Violent
Crimes.
Public
Corruption
Public Corruption
continues to pose the greatest threat to the integrity of all
levels of government. Recent investigative efforts have been intensified
to identify and convict Immigration, Department of State, and
DMV officials illegally selling visas or other citizenship documents
and drivers licenses to anyone with enough money. Their illegal
activities potentially conceal the identity and purpose of terrorists
and other criminals, facilitating their entry, travel, and operation
without detection in the U.S. Other investigations have convicted
numerous law enforcement officers, including those who formed
criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking. Many major
metropolitan areas in the U.S. have witnessed the indictment and
conviction of corrupt public officials who betrayed the public
trust for profit or personal gain. Over the last two years alone,
the FBI has convicted more than 1050 corrupt government employees,
including 177 federal officials, 158 state officials, 360 local
officials, and more than 365 police officers. In addition to pursuing
criminal investigations against corrupt law enforcement officers,
the FBI has initiated awareness and training efforts to deter
corruption, such as "Project Integrity."
Civil
Rights
During FY
2004, the FBI initiated 1,744 civil rights investigations and
obtained 154 convictions, focusing its efforts on Hate Crimes,
Color of Law, and Involuntary Servitude and Slavery matters. The
FBI and the United States depend on the support, cooperation and
assistance of the Arab, Muslim and Sikh Communities in the United
States to fight terrorism and to fight crime. These communities
are entitled to the same civil rights of every citizen and person
in the United States. The FBI has worked with these communities
to ease their fears concerning the FBI’s interest in securing
their help in the fight against terrorism and to address the backlash
of hate crimes directed against them following 9/11 and the war
in Iraq. Since 9/11, more than 500 hate crime investigations have
been initiated, where the victims were Arab, Muslim, Sikh, or
perceived to be as such, resulting in more than 150 federal and
local prosecutions. During 2004, the FBI initiated 53 hate crime
investigations where the victims were of Arab, Muslim, or Sikh
descent or were perceived to be such. Thirteen of those cases
resulted in criminal charges being filed by either state or federal
law enforcement authorities. Other groups also continue to be
the victims of Hate Crimes, including African American and Jewish
communities.
Human trafficking
and modern day slavery are a worldwide crime and human rights
problem, due to global, economic, and political factors. Approximately
17,000 victims each year are lured to the United States with false
promises of good jobs and better lives and then forced to work
under brutal and inhumane conditions. Many trafficking victims,
including women and children, are forced to work in the sex industry,
prison like factories, and migrant agricultural work.
Violent
Gangs
Violent gangs
are more organized, larger, more violent, and more widespread
than ever before, and they pose a growing threat to the safety
and security of Americans. The Department of Justice estimates
there are approximately 30,000 gangs with more than 800,000 members
in the U.S.
Our communities
continue to experience devastating incidences of murder, drive-by
shootings, and assaults by gangs mainly involved in the sale and
distribution of illicit drugs. However, gang activity extends
far beyond protection of turf. It impacts innocent citizens who
have no connection or involvement with gangs, and it increasingly
transcends municipal boundaries. Gang members travel from city
to city, between states and, on occasion, between countries to
commit their crimes.
In response,
the FBI is implementing a coordinated, intelligence-driven National
Gang Strategy to disrupt and dismantle gangs that pose the greatest
threats to America’s communities. In the past year, we have increased
the number of Safe Street Task Forces from 78 to 107 and we are
seeking to increase the number by an additional 10 to 20 percent
in the coming year. We are also centralizing gang investigations
at FBI Headquarters with a new $10 million National Gang Intelligence
Center (NGIC). The NGIC will collect intelligence on gangs from
across the U.S., analyze this intelligence, and disseminate it
to help law enforcement authorities throughout the country plan
and execute strategies to prevent further gang activity and violence.
The FBI has
reclassified gang matters from "violent criminal offenders"
to "criminal organizations and enterprises" — a higher
priority area. The new classification also allows the U.S. Department
of Justice to charge gang members under federal racketeering statues
which can result in stiffer prison sentences for convicted subjects.
This approach is similar to the successful strategy used by the
FBI to dismantle traditional organized crime groups.
Under the
National Gang Strategy, priority is given to efforts to disrupt
and dismantle gangs that are national in their scope and exhibit
significant connectivity and internal alliances. Among the first
to be targeted is Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a violent gang which
originated in Los Angeles comprised primarily of Central American
immigrants. We have created a National Gang Task Force specifically
to address MS-13.
Criminal
Enterprises
Organized
criminal enterprises operating in the U.S. and throughout the
world pose increasing concerns for the international law enforcement
and intelligence communities. Their skill in using international
monetary systems to conduct and conceal their criminal activity,
their use of state of the art communications encryption to further
safeguard their illegal activity, and their transnational mobility
increases the likelihood they will escape detection or otherwise
cover their illegal activities with a cloak of legitimacy. Although
the FBI prioritizes its efforts on criminal enterprises with possible
connections to terrorist and counterintelligence activities, public
corruption, human smuggling of Special Interest Aliens and women
and children, or violent and pervasive racketeering activity,
the impact from just one criminal activity alone, theft, is staggering.
Annual property losses from cargo/high tech/retail theft is estimated
at $30 billion, from vehicle theft $8 billion, from art/cultural
heritage artifact theft $500 million, and from jewelry and gem
theft $135 million. However, theft by criminal enterprises often
represents a multifaceted threat. For example, Middle Eastern
Criminal Enterprises involved in the organized theft and resale
of infant formula pose not only an economic threat, but a public
health threat to infants, and a potential source of material support
to a terrorist organization.
The FBI is
increasing its intelligence collection and assessment efforts
on criminal enterprises, as well as its joint efforts with the
intelligence and law enforcement services of other nations, to
combat the criminal activities of the La Cosa Nostra, Italian,
Russian, Balkan, Albanian, Asian, African, Middle Eastern, Colombian/South
American and other criminal enterprises. The FBI/Hungarian National
Bureau of Investigation Organized Crime Task Force in Budapest,
Hungary, which is investigating a Russian Criminal Enterprise
engaged in murder, extortion, prostitution, and other significant
racketeering activity, represents an unprecedented cooperative
effort between the FBI and the Hungarians.
Although new
criminal enterprises continue to emerge, the LCN remains a formidable
and ever changing criminal threat. This year, in just one criminal
scheme, identified by the Federal Trade Commission as the largest
consumer fraud investigated in the history of the United States,
members of the Gambino LCN family were convicted for using pornographic
websites and adult entertainment 1 800 numbers to defraud thousands
of individuals of $750,000,000. Asian Criminal Enterprises also
pose a continued threat, as exemplified by one which was dismantled
earlier this year during a coordinated arrest operation with Canada,
which resulted in the arrest of 36 subjects in Canada and 102
subjects in the U.S. for drug trafficking and money laundering.
Millions of dollars and 21 firearms, including an AK 47 assault
rifle and a sawed off shotgun were seized during the operation.
Corporate/Securities
Fraud
Corporate
fraud can cost Americans their jobs and rob them of hard-earned
savings. It shakes the public’s confidence in corporate America
to its foundation. Since the initiation of the FBI Corporate Fraud
Task Force in December 2001, there have been 480 indictments and
305 convictions of corporate executives and their associates.
The FBI’s efforts have also resulted in over $2 billion in restitutions,
recoveries and fines, in addition to over $30 million in seizures
and forfeitures. In the Enron, HealthSouth, Cendant Corporation,
Credit Suisse First Boston, Computer Associates International,
Worldcom, Imclone, Royal Ahold, Perigrine Systems, and America
On Line cases the FBI obtained 119 indictments/ informations and
79 convictions. The former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Worldcom
is on trial in New York and the former CEO of HealthSouth is on
trial in Alabama. Several additional high profile trials are anticipated
in the near future, to include the trial of Enron’s former CEOs
and Chief Accounting Officer anticipated to be scheduled for August
or September 2005.
The FBI is
currently pursuing 334 Corporate Fraud cases throughout the U.S.
This is more than a 100 percent increase from FY 2003. Eighteen
of the pending cases involve losses to public investors which
each exceed $1 billion. Unfortunately, the volume of cases has
yet to reach a plateau, and the FBI continues to open three to
six new cases each month, each case averaging a loss exceeding
$100 million.
Health
Care Fraud
American’s
health care expenditures continue to climb at rates higher than
inflation and will soon consume more than 17 percent of the Gross
Domestic Product. It is estimated that health care fraud costs
consumers, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers tens of billions
of dollars each year in blatant fraud schemes in every sector
of the industry. The FBI recently instituted the Out Patient Surgery
and Pharmaceutical Fraud Initiatives to combat blatant fraud identified
in those health care programs. During FY 2004, the FBI had 2,468
pending health care fraud investigations, obtained 693 indictments
and informations, 564 convictions or pre trial diversions, $1.05
billion in restitution, $543 million in fines, $28.8 million in
seizures, $19.05 million in forfeitures and disrupted 186 and
dismantled 105 criminal organizations.
Mortgage
Fraud
The number
of FBI mortgage fraud investigations, including major undercover
operations, rose from 102 in FY 2001 to approximately 550 in FY
2004. This rise is expected to continue. During FYs 2001-2004
the FBI received over 17,000 mortgage fraud related Suspicious
Activity Reports from federally insured financial institutions
alone. The FBI worked with the Mortgage Bankers’ Association (MBA),
the National Notary Association (NNA), as well as FINCEN, the
Department of Housing and Urban Development, and major mortgage
lending institutions, to improve the reporting and detection of
potential mortgage fraud.
Crimes
Against Children/Violent Incident Crime
Of all violent
crime, crimes against children and child prostitution are of particular
concern. Over 300,000 children per year are forced into prostitution.
The FBI’s Lost Innocence, Child Prostitution Initiative, has opened
13 cases in 11 field offices, emphasizing the use of sophisticated
investigative techniques, to obtain 135 arrests/locates, 3 complaints,
13 indictments/informations, 11 convictions/pre trial diversions,
and 4 child locates. Major violent crime incidents, such as sniper
murders, serial killings and child abductions can paralyze whole
communities and require the cooperative efforts of the FBI and
local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies. The FBI
also continues to address the 6,218 bank robberies, resulting
in 153 injuries, and 15 deaths, that occurred within the first
ten months of 2004, albeit with a greater reliance on other agencies
and a lesser use of its own resources where possible.
Enhancing
the FBI’s Capabilities
Mr. Chairman,
you will notice that our accomplishments over the past year consistently
have two things in common, the effective collection and use of
intelligence and inter-agency cooperation. The improvements that
made these accomplishments possible result from the continued
efforts of the men and women of the FBI to implement a plan that
fundamentally transforms our agency and enhances our ability to
predict and prevent terrorism.
Intelligence
As set forth
above, threat information crosses both internal and external organizational
boundaries. Counterterrorism efforts must draw from, and contribute
to, counterintelligence, cyber and criminal programs. In order
to most effectively address all threats, we are continuing to
strengthen the FBI’s enterprise-wide intelligence program.
We began in
2001 with a dedicated analysis section in the Counterterrorism
Division and, in 2002, we created an Office of Intelligence in
the Counterterrorism Division. The structure and capability significantly
enhanced our CT operations and those of our partners. In 2003,
we extended this concept across all FBI programs — Criminal Cyber,
Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence-and unified intelligence
authorities under a new FBI Office of Intelligence led by an Executive
Assistant Director. The Office of Intelligence adopted Intelligence
Community best practices to direct all FBI intelligence activities.
Congress and the 9/11 Commission reviewed these efforts and provided
recommendations to further strengthen the FBI’s intelligence capability.
The newly
established Directorate of Intelligence is the dedicated national
security workforce that the Congress established within the FBI.
It comprises a dedicated Headquarters element and embedded intelligence
entities in each FBI field office called Field Intelligence Groups
(FIGs). The FIGs are central to the integration of the intelligence
cycle into field operations. The FIGS include Special Agents,
Intelligence Analysts, Language Specialists, and Surveillance
Specialists, as well as officers and analysts from other intelligence
and law enforcement agencies. They are responsible for coordinating,
managing, and executing all of the functions of the intelligence
cycle and have significantly improved the FBI’s intelligence capability.
This integrated intelligence service leverages the core strengths
of the law enforcement culture — such as reliability of sources
and fact-based analysis — while ensuring that no walls exist
between collectors, analysts and those who must act upon intelligence
information. The Directorate also benefits from the strong FBI
history of joint operations by unifying FBI intelligence professional
and integrating all partners, particularly state, local, and tribal
law enforcement, into our intelligence structures.
The central
mission of the Directorate is to optimally position the FBI to
meet current and emerging national security and criminal threats
by: (1) assuring that the FBI proactively targets threats to the
US, inhibiting them and dissuading them before they become crimes;
(2) providing useful, appropriate and timely information and analysis
to the national security, homeland security, and law enforcement
communities; and (3) building and sustaining FBI-wide intelligence
policies and capabilities.
In 2004, we
made substantial progress to expand and strengthen our intelligence
workforce. For the first time, the FBI offered recruitment bonuses
for Intelligence Analysts. As a result of these and other efforts,
the FBI received over 80,000 applications and hired over 650 Intelligence
Analysts.
We built on
the College of Analytic Studies, created in October 2001, with
the addition of two new courses based on intelligence community
best practices: ACES 1.0, a new basis intelligence analytic course,
and ACES 1.5, a course for experienced, on-board analysts that
provides information on the latest analytic resources and techniques.
To ensure a consistent level of knowledge across the workforce
on intelligence concepts and processes, ACES Training is now mandatory
for all FBI Intelligence Analysts. We have increased our training
expertise and capacity and are on track to deliver basic training
to 1,000 Intelligence Analysts by December 2005. In addition,
we have incorporated intelligence training into New Agents class,
including a joint exercise with Intelligence Analysts and joint
evening seminars.
The Intelligence
Analyst career path, with multiple work roles and cross-training
requirements not only provides career development opportunities,
it also creates a workforce with the agility and flexibility needed
to respond to the changing threat environment.
In addition,
we implemented several initiatives to enhance the analyst career
path and improve retention. We extended the promotion potential
for analysts in the field from GS-12 to GS-14. We created an Intelligence
Analyst Advisory Board, leveraging the strong FBI culture of creating
advisory groups to provide advocacy for specific career fields.
At the same time we worked with Congress and were granted pay
flexibilities, such that FBI intelligence professionals now can
be compensated at a rate equal to that of their Intelligence Community
peers. These and other initiatives have helped us to stabilize
our attrition rate between 8 percent and 9 percent and FY05 statistics
to date look promising.
We have also
taken steps to strengthen the Special Agent component of our intelligence
workforce. In March 2004 we established a new career path for
Special Agents with three objectives. First, the career path gives
all Agents experience in intelligence collection, analysis and
dissemination. Second, the career path will give Agents an opportunity
to develop specialized skills, experience and aptitudes in one
of four areas: 1) Intelligence, 2) Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence,
3) Cyber or 4) Criminal. Third, it makes Intelligence Officer
Certification a prerequisite for advancement to senior supervisory
ranks. The Special Agent career path will produce a cadre of Agents
who are proficient in both intelligence and law enforcement operations.
This is key to achieving the full integration of law enforcement
and intelligence operations.
To improve
our foreign language capabilities, we have recruited and processed
more than 50,000 translator applicants. These efforts have resulted
in the addition of 778 new Contract Linguists (net gain of 493
after attrition) and 109 new Language Analysts (net gain of 34
after attrition). The FBI has increased its overall number of
linguists by 67%, with the number of linguists in certain high
priority languages increasing by 200% or more.
We have integrated
management of the FBI’s Foreign Language Program (FLP) into the
Directorate of Intelligence. This integration fully aligns FBI
foreign language and intelligence management activities and delivers
a cross-cutting platform for future improvements across all program
areas, including translation quality controls.
We also established
the Language Services Translation Center (LSTC), a command and
control structure at FBI Headquarters to ensure that our finite
translator resource base of over 1,300 translators, distributed
across 52 field offices, is strategically aligned with priorities
set by our operational divisions on a national level.
We have built
a secure network that allows us to efficiently route FISA audio
collection to any FBI field office. This technology allows us
to more effectively utilize our national translator base.
We now possess
sufficient translation capability to promptly address all of our
highest priority counterterrorism intelligence, often within 12
hours. Of the several hundred thousand hours of audio materials
and several million pages of text collected in connection with
counterterrorism investigations over the last two years, a nominal
level of backlog exists only because of obscure languages or dialects.
We have instituted
a national translation quality assurance program. Countervailing
operational pressures, however, limit our ability to fully comply
with instituted translation review procedures in those languages
for which demand continues to outpace supply. In those languages
for which we have already achieved excess translation capacity,
e.g., Farsi, Pashto, and Vietnamese, 100% quality assurance compliance
is expected by April 2005.
Translation
backlogs continue to exist within our counterintelligence program.
To target these deficiencies, we have implemented a highly successful
workforce planning model which links field-wide workload measurements,
trend analysis, and geo-political indicators to our recruitment
and applicant processing efforts.
In 2005, we
plan to strengthen the integration of the entire intelligence
cycle (requirements management; planning and direction; collection;
processing and exploitation of collected information; analysis
and production; and dissemination) into field office operations.
We will incorporate
the recently-developed new critical element entitled, "Intelligence,"
into the performance plans of all Special Agents and Supervisory
Special Agents; this new element emphasizes participation in intelligence
cycle functions, in particular human source development and contributions
to intelligence production.
We will also
establish "fly-teams" of Agents with intelligence experience,
Intelligence Analysts, Language Specialists, and Surveillance
Specialists to travel to five field offices and provide hands-on
guidance and training for the full integration of the intelligence
cycle within the office.
Partnerships
Our ability
to coordinate and communicate with other members of the Intelligence
Community has never been better. Our face-to-face interaction
with the National Counterterrorism Center and members of the CIA
and DHS has positively impacted our ability to come together on
a common problem and the results of the cooperation are evident.
Case in point: during the election threat, analysts were able
to meet daily to discuss assessments and develop theories that
were fundamental to understanding the threat, and from those meetings,
on-line forums were created to facilitate continued sharing of
ideas and new intelligence finds — all from the desktop.
The FBI’s
Information Sharing Policy Group, chaired by the FBI’s EAD-Intelligence,
brings together the FBI entities that generate and disseminate
law enforcement information and intelligence to implement the
FBI’s goal of sharing as much as possible consistent with security
and privacy protections.
Within
the Intelligence Community, the FBI has a two-level approach:
1. For those
agencies that operate at the Top Secret-SCI level, we are investing
in secure facilities for an FBI network (SCI On-Line, or SCION)
that is linked to the DOD-based JWICS network used by CIA, NSA,
and other national agencies.
2. For those
agencies that operate at the Secret level, we have connected the
FBI’s internal electronic communications system to the DoD-based
SIPRNET network that serves. As a result, all FBI Agents or analysts
who need to communicate at the Secret-level with other agencies
can do so from their desktop.
Within the
law enforcement community, the FBI’s National Information Sharing
Strategy (NISS) is part of the DOJ Law Enforcement Information
Sharing Program and builds upon the FBI Criminal Justice Information
(CJIS) Services program.
-
The
Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-DEx) will provide
a nationwide capability to exchange data derived from incident
and event reports. Data from incident and arrest reports —
name, address, and non-specific crime characteristics — will
be entered into a central repository to be queried against by
future data submissions. The national scale of N-DEx will enable
rapid coordination among all strata of law enforcement.
-
The
Law Enforcement Regional Data Exchange (R-DEx) will enable the
FBI to join participating Federal, state, tribal, and local
law enforcement agencies in regional full-text information sharing
systems under standard technical procedures and policy agreements.
-
The
FBI makes national intelligence more readily available to state,
tribal, and local law enforcement agencies through the Law Enforcement
Online (LEO) network.
-
The
Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) also leverages the CJIS backbone
to provide real-time actionable intelligence to state and local
law enforcement.
Information
Technology
Recognizing
that the ability to assemble, analyze and disseminate information
both internally and with other intelligence and law enforcement
agencies is essential to our success in the war on terrorism,
the FBI has made modernization of its information technology (IT)
a priority.
Under the
centralized leadership of the Chief Information Officer (CIO),
the FBI is now taking a coordinated, strategic approach to IT.
We have a Strategic IT Plan, a baseline Enterprise Architecture,
and a system for managing IT projects at each stage of their "life
cycle" from planning and investment, through development
and deployment, operation and maintenance, and disposal. This
involves regular technical reviews to see if milestones are met.
The first
two phases of the Trilogy IT modernization program have been completed.
The FBI is now modernized with:
1. Deployment
of a high-speed, secure network that enables personnel in FBI
offices around the country to share data, including audio, video
and image files.
2. More
than 30,000 new desktop computers with modern software applications
3,700 printers, 1600 scanners, 465 servers and 1400 routers.
3. An
IT infrastructure that provides for secure communication with
our Intelligence Community partners.
The third
phase of Trilogy, which includes the Virtual Case File (VCF) has
not yet been completed. Plans for VCF have changed both in response
to identified technical problems and because the FBI’s refocused
mission created requirements that did not exist when VCF was originally
envisioned, such as requirements related to information sharing.
Last June, after we determined that the product delivered did
not meet our needs, we decided to move forward with a two-track
action plan for VCF.
In accordance
with this plan, we asked a new contractor to examine the latest
working version of the VCF as well as available off-the-shelf
software applications and those designed for other agencies, to
determine the best combination to meet the FBI’s needs. In many
ways, the pace of technological innovation has overtaken our original
vision for VCF, and there are now existing products to suit our
purposes that did not exist when Trilogy began.
1. As we move
forward, we will apply all that we have learned and leverage what
we have already developed, including a critical interface to our
existing data systems that will be a key component of our final
solution.
2. Separate
from the Trilogy Program, we have successfully developed and deployed
a number of new investigative and information sharing capabilities.
The Investigative
Data Warehouse (IDW) offers Agents and analysts alike the technology
to perform link analysis, while also providing enhanced search
and analytical tools. IDW provides FBI users with a single access
point to more than 47 sources of counterterrorism data, including
information from FBI files, other government agency data, and
open source news feeds, that were previously available only through
separate, stove-piped systems. Most of these users are with the
Directorate of Intelligence, Counterterrorism or Counterintelligence
Divisions. These users provide search and analysis services using
the IDW for personnel throughout the Bureau.
The FBI Automated
Messaging System (FAMS) began operations in December and now provides
more than 300 users with the capability to send and receive critical
organizational message traffic to any of the 40,000+ addresses
on the Defense Messaging System (DMS). The FBI is the first civilian
agency to operate a classified DMS.
The FBI Intelligence
Information Reports Dissemination System (FIDS) is a web-based
software application that allows all FBI personnel with access
to the FBI’s Intranet to create and disseminate standardized Intelligence
Information Reports (IIRs) quickly and efficiently. FIDS allows
the Directorate of Intelligence to automate and standardize IIR
creation and dissemination functions.
Conclusion
Looking forward,
we expect certain trends to continue. Our adversaries will keep
evolving, national security and criminal threats will further
converge, and old jurisdictional boundaries will become less and
less relevant. If we are to address these trends successfully,
we must be willing and able to evolve ourselves. The FBI must
continue to build our intelligence capabilities, including a strong
intelligence workforce. We must continue hiring and training personnel
with technical expertise and foreign language skills. We must
continue to seek new ways to share information and collaborate
with partners in the Intelligence and Law Enforcement Communities.
Above all, we must be agile, and encourage creativity, innovation,
and strategic thinking. If we do all of these things, I am confident
that we will out-network, out-think, and ultimately defeat our
adversaries.
Mr. Chairman,
I thank you again for this opportunity. I look forward to working
with this committee as we continue our efforts to address threats
to the U.S. I would be happy to take any questions you might have.
END, February
16, 2005
Remarks
Prepared for Delivery by Cassandra M. Chandler Assistant Director,
Federal Bureau of Investigation Exchange Club of Capitol Hill
Evolving
Challenges to Law Enforcement
Good morning.
In learning about the Exchange Club, I realized that we in the
FBI share many of the same values. A dedication to protecting
children. A belief in public service. A deep love of our country.
And a desire to make our communities and our nation a better and
safer place.
On the 75th
anniversary of the FBI, President Reagan summed up the FBI’s mission
and values in these words: "From its inception under President
Theodore Roosevelt to the present, the FBI has worked diligently
to enforce our laws, ensure the nation’s security, and further
the pursuit of justice across our land." And though the FBI
has adapted and changed to successfully confront new threats,
our broader mission has remain unchanged. We are still enforcing
the laws of this country, still protecting the rights of all Americans,
and still safeguarding the security of our nation against all
enemies.
Who are these
enemies? First and foremost, Al Qaeda and other terrorists overseas
and their operatives and supporters hiding within our own borders.
They are dangerous and they are deadly, and stopping them is the
FBI’s highest priority.
But they are
not our only enemies. America and America’s children are also
at risk from drug dealers, online predators, gangs, and violent
criminals. And it is not just our freedom and our security that
are under assault, but also our values.
Today, I want
to talk to you about what the FBI is doing to defend our freedom,
safeguard our security, and support our shared values.
First, let’s
talk about public enemy number one: terrorists. I would imagine
that many of you say a prayer of gratitude, as I do, every time
the Capitol rotunda comes into view. The terrorists sought to
destroy our Capitol on September 11, 2001 — but they did
not succeed. And the FBI is here to make sure they will never
again succeed. We are the lead agency charged with investigating
and preventing terrorism. Since the September 11th attacks, we
have made rapid and tremendous progress in understanding the nature
of our enemies and implementing ways to defeat them.
This progress
is largely the result of two important changes in the FBI: Improved
intelligence, and improved partnerships with the intelligence
community and with federal, state, local and international law
enforcement. Let me give you a quick overview of these improvements.
First, before
the September 11th attacks, the FBI was primarily focused on investigating
traditional criminal and terrorism issues in a reactive way —
investigating after the fact in order to bring perpetrators to
justice. We have spent the past several years transforming the
FBI into an intelligence-driven agency, working in a proactive
way with the goal not just of prosecuting, but preventing crime
and terrorism.
To prevent
illegal activity, our intelligence capability has had to increase
and improve dramatically. And it has.
We now have
Field Intelligence Groups in every FBI office, collecting and
analyzing intelligence and sharing it with over 100 Joint Terrorism
Task Forces and other law enforcement and intelligence officials
around the country and the world. We have stood up a new Directorate
of Intelligence within the FBI, to make sure that intelligence
is integrated into every single FBI investigation, from drugs,
to gangs, to foreign counterintelligence, to terrorism.
And in all
these areas, our increased intelligence ability has paid off in
arrests and prosecutions, in dismantled drug and gang enterprises,
in thwarted terrorist attacks, and in the lowest crime rate in
30 years.
The second
area of improvement is our partnerships. In the wake of September
11th, it became all too clear that no agency, no department, and
no nation could succeed alone. We could not afford to wrangle
over turf. We could not afford to keep information to ourselves.
We could not afford to introduce ourselves for the first time
at another Ground Zero.
And so we
have come together. We work together, train together, and share
information together like never before. Today, police officers
from across the country and the world work inside FBI offices,
side-by-side with FBI Agents and analysts. Our counterterrorism
Agents and analysts sit at the same tables, in the same rooms,
in the same building with analysts and reports officers from the
CIA. We are one team with one mission — preventing terrorism.
These improvements
demonstrate how the FBI has adapted and changed to successfully
confront today’s threats. But the threats to America keep changing.
Today’s criminal landscape is becoming more complex, more dangerous,
and more international.
The rules
of the game also keep changing. Our adversaries carry no flags
and wear no uniforms. They do not fight on traditional battlefields.
Technology has enabled them to travel unnoticed, to communicate
their plans with the click of a mouse, and to carry them out with
the push of a cell phone button.
The first
FBI Agents, working under President Roosevelt, worried about bank
robbers and gangsters. Nearly 100 years later, Agents must also
worry about hackers, online predators, spies, and terrorists.
And we are concerned about the growing convergence of these threats,
both old and new. Today, we see organized crime enterprises laundering
money for drug groups. Drug groups selling weapons to terrorists.
Terrorists committing white-collar crime and fraud to raise money
for their operations.
But perhaps
my greatest worry is that our culture is inadvertently supporting
these evolving threats. And that’s where you come in to play…
Our culture
has changed dramatically since the early days of the FBI. Technology
has allowed us to progress in many ways. But in some ways, technology
has also been a vehicle of moral and cultural regress. It has
allowed some people to indulge their worst instincts through too-real
"virtual" worlds.
Let me give
you a quick example — video games. Now, you may be wondering
why I feel I can speak authoritatively on the way video games
are eroding our culture and values and serving as a training ground
for today’s evolving crimes. Well, I have a 15-year old son. I
know all about video games.
The label
on his latest game obsession proves my point. It includes these
warnings: "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language,
Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs."
Of course,
you could say, "Well, you’re the Mom, don’t let him play
with it." But today, this and other video games, computer
games, Internet games, and much more are readily available —
if not in my home, then in the homes of others. But let’s get
back to the game….
As far as
I can tell, the "protagonist" of the game is a sleazy
gangster. In order to win, you have to acquire lots of money and
lots of power. You have to take over rival gangs, put hits out
on the police, ally yourself with drug kingpins and hopefully
share some of their profits, befriend the Mafia, and kill as many
people as you can with as many weapons as you can get your hands
on.
Whatever happened
to Pac-Man? You know, the nice little yellow guy that just ate
power pellets and chased pastel ghosts away?
Yet this is
the culture we live in. These are the values we are instilling
in our children.
Today’s games
glorify violence and cultivate a casual attitude towards lawlessness.
But it’s not just games. The more our music, our music videos,
our movies, and our TV shows promote violence and lawlessness,
the more this same type of violence and lawlessness will play
out on the streets, by children whose minds and hearts have been
lost. And because America is a great exporter of ideas and influence,
this same violence and lawlessness is seeping into other cultures
and the minds and hearts of children in other nations.
This cultural
degradation is perhaps the greatest future challenge of law enforcement.
The FBI can work to prevent terrorism, gang violence and drug
trafficking, but we cannot prevent them from being glorified to
a kid with a new video or game. The FBI can stand on the front
lines every day, trying to stop the spread of drugs, of firearms,
of weapons of mass destruction. But we cannot stop the infiltration
of the ideas that are dehumanizing our culture and encouraging
kids to support the spread of drugs, of firearms, and of weapons
of mass destruction.
That is why
you are so important to the law enforcement community. Groups
like the Exchange Club are vital to turning the tide in our nation
and in the world. We share a common goal — securing a peaceful
world and a civil society where freedom can flourish. Even the
world’s strongest army, using the best intelligence, aided by
the most aggressive legislation cannot alone accomplish this goal.
It takes more
than just changes in the FBI. It takes more than just law enforcement
and military might to ensure our children can grow up in safety
and in freedom. It takes all of you, doing just what you are doing
— volunteering to make a difference — that will help
win the battle.
President
Bush put it best when he announced the creation of the USA Freedom
Corps in January 2002. He said, "You overcome the evil in
society by doing something to help somebody…If people want to
fight terror, do something kind for a neighbor. Stand up to evil
with acts of goodness. Not only will our country be better, but
we will show the world that values must be adhered to. And as
a result, the world will be more peaceful."
"History,"
President Bush said, "has called us to action, and action
we will take."
The FBI is
taking action by changing to meet evolving threats. And we are
thankful that citizens like you are also taking that action, by
serving our children, our communities and our country. You embody
the American spirit of giving, and you are spreading that spirit
to the people you serve. You are ambassadors of America’s values.
And together we will succeed in making America a safer place.
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