HOUSE ARMED SERVICES SUBCOMMITTEE ON STRATEGIC FORCES

TERRY EVERETT, ALABAMA

CHAIRMAN

PRESS RELEASE

Opening Statement of Terry Everett

Joint Hearing on the Able Danger Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As a member of both the House Armed Services and Intelligence

committees, I am keenly interested in data mining and its importance to our intelligence community in conducting the war on terrorism.

At the outset, I believe it is important to highlight the key objectives of this hearing:

• To better understand the Joint Chiefs tasking of Special Operations Command in late 1999 to conduct
  an information operations campaign against Al Qaeda, and
• The tools used by the Able Danger team to map out the Al Qaeda network and how that information was shared.

I have heard numerous reports that Mohammed Atta's name was known before 9/11 but have not

heard a definitive answer as to what significance his name and photo might have had in warning the United States of an impending attack. Even if Mohammed Atta's name did show up in the Able Danger project, what was the significance of this information to the intelligence community? I hope to learn more on this today.

I also note that there is an on-going Department of Defense Inspector General investigation

associated with certain aspects of the Able Danger. I know that we will all be careful to stay clear of matters that are the subject of this investigation as well as ensuring we avoid the discussion of classified material while in open session. I want to commend my colleague, Curt Weldon, for his interest and hard work in this area.

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