Graphic of a blue block spacer
Graphic of the FBI Seal and U.S. Flag  and link to FBI Homepage
Graphic link to FBI Priorities
Graphic to About Us
Graphic link to Press Room
Graphic link to Investigative Programs
Graphic link to Counterterrorism
Link to Intelligence Program
Graphic link to Most Wanted
Graphic link to Field Divisions
Graphic link to Reports & Publications
Graphic link to FBI History
Graphic link to For the Family
Graphic link to Freedom Of Iinformation Act Library / Requests
Graphic link to Employment
Graphic link to Search

Graphic link to Homepage

 

Graphic link to Submit a Tip
Graphic link to Apply Today
Graphic link to Links
Graphic link to Contact Us
Graphic link to Site Map
Graphic link to Privacy Policy
Press Room
Congressional Statements

Testimony of Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, FBI
Before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies

March 17, 2004
"FBI's Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Budget Request"

Introduction
Good afternoon Mr. Chairman, Congressman Serrano, and members of the Subcommittee. It is my pleasure to come before you to discuss the FBI's Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 budget request. Before I begin, I want to take a moment to thank you for your leadership and strong support of the FBI. The funding you have provided has been critical to our mission and our efforts to transform the FBI. Over the past two and a half years, we have moved from an organization that was primarily focused on traditional criminal investigations to one that is actively investigating and disrupting terrorist operations.

When I became Director of the FBI, about 32 percent of the FBI's funding-or approximately $1 billion and 6,928 positions-were dedicated to counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Nearly half (49 percent) of all funding-or $1.5 billion and 13,828 positions-were dedicated to criminal programs. This allocation of resources reflected an organization whose mission focused on traditional crime fighting.

Today, our mission has changed dramatically and our budget reflects this change. For FY 2005 the FBI is requesting a total of $5.1 billion, an increase of about $525 million over the FY 2004 enacted level. This includes net increases totaling $324.6 million and 948 new positions, 307 of which are agents. Approximately 44 percent of the funding is allocated to counterterrorism and counterintelligence-or about $2.2 billion and 12,466 positions. Compared to FY 2001, this represents more than double the amount of funding and equates to an 80 percent increase in the number of people devoted to the counterterrorism and counterintelligence missions.

Equally important is the fact that even with this change in focus, our criminal program still represents about 32 percent of our budget request-or about $1.6 billion and 11,765 positions. With the support of this Subcommittee, we have remained at the forefront of criminal investigations while upholding our highest priority of terrorism prevention.

We have spent the past two and a half years transforming the FBI and realigning our resources to meet the threats we face in a post-September 11th world. With our resources now appropriately balanced among counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber and criminal programs, we can now turn our full attention to strengthening our intelligence program, improving interagency coordination of intelligence and expanding our overseas presence.

My primary focus, and a top priority in the FY 2005 budget, is the FBI's Intelligence Program. I will spend some time this afternoon discussing our achievements there and our plans for the future. I will also briefly discuss our ongoing counterterrorism and counterintelligence programs, our cyber initiatives, our criminal program, and of course, our information technology. I strongly believe that the FY 2005 budget will build upon our substantial progress in all these areas, and will enable the FBI to continue its transformation into the world's premier law enforcement and counterterrorism agency.

Intelligence and Information Sharing, Counterterrorism, and Counterintelligence Progress and Resource Needs

A strong, enterprise-wide intelligence program is not only key to our counterterrorism efforts, it is critical to our success across all investigations, including criminal, counterintelligence, and cyber. The FBI has long been a leader in gathering information, but in the past, we did not elevate the analytical process above the individual case or investigation. Today, we are focused not just on collecting information, but on analyzing it, connecting it to other vital information, and disseminating it to the widest extent possible-while at the same time respecting civil liberties and working within the framework of the Constitution. If I may, I would like to describe some of our most important intelligence program initiatives:

· We stood up the Office of Intelligence, under the direction of a new Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence. The Office of Intelligence sets unified standards, policies, and training for analysts, who examine intelligence and ensure it is shared within the FBI, among Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs), and with our partners in the national security and law enforcement communities.

· The Office of Intelligence has already provided over 2,400 intelligence reports and other documents for the President and members of the Intelligence Community.

· To strengthen information sharing between the field and FBI Headquarters, and throughout the Intelligence Community, we established Reports Officer positions. Reports Officers in the field and at Headquarters extract pertinent information from FBI investigations and disseminate it to the widest extent possible. They play a key role in the dissemination of Intelligence Information Reports to the Intelligence Community, as well as dissemination of raw intelligence information to our federal, state, local, tribal, and international partners.

· We established Field Intelligence Groups (FIGs) in each field office. The FIG is the centralized intelligence component in each field office and is responsible for the management, execution, and coordination of intelligence functions. We also established a formal requirements process for identifying and resolving intelligence gaps.

· The FY 2005 budget request includes an increase of $13.4 million and 151 positions to support the Office of Intelligence and continue integrating the intelligence program across all FBI divisions.

· In accordance with the President's directive to establish an independent threat fusion center, the FBI joined the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) in May 2003. The TTIC fuses threat information from 10 federal agencies into a focused analytical product. That information then goes into the hands of those who need it most-the federal, state, and local intelligence and law enforcement agencies working around the clock to protect our country. The FY 2005 President's budget request includes $35.5 million to co-locate a portion of the Counterterrorism Division with the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Counterterrorist Center and the TTIC, in order to further improve interagency communication and information sharing.

· On December 1, 2003, we stood up the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). The TSC is providing unified, accurate terrorist screening information to investigators and screeners around the country twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The FY 2005 President's budget request includes $29 million to support the TSC.

Our enemies remain determined to undermine and attack the United States, so we must remain vigilant. To give some perspective, in FY 2001, we opened 4,324 counterterrorism cases in the field. In FY 2003, that number more than tripled, jumping to nearly 14,000 cases. FISAs have increased significantly since FY 2001. With your help, we have strengthened our counterterrorism and counterintelligence programs to respond to the increased workload, and have met with considerable success.

Al Qaeda's key leadership, major sources of funding, and a secure base of operations have been decimated. Yet attacks in Istanbul this past November and in Riyadh last May serve as sobering reminders that Al Qaeda still has the will-and the capability-to carry out devastating attacks. Our job is to anticipate terrorist plans and to prevent terrorists from acting on them. Therefore, the FBI is requesting program increases of $157 million to continue our counterterrorism and counterintelligence progress, including 742 positions, 323 of which are agents. I have already discussed three pieces that are integral to this progress-the Office of Intelligence, the TTIC, and the TSC. The requested funding for FY 2005 will support our efforts to ensure the intelligence we collect is appropriately analyzed and shared in support of all FBI investigations.

· Agents, analysts, and support personnel are vital to the intelligence program, from the first fragment of information gathered to the final phase of an investigation or operation. They also support rising numbers of counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations, build relationships with our partners in state and local law enforcement, and support the FBI's nationally managed counterterrorism program. The FBI therefore requests increases of $98.8 million and 586 positions, including 314 agents, both in the field and at FBI Headquarters.

· Our efforts to ensure a seamless flow of information do not stop at our borders. In today's world, crimes as diverse as terrorism and corporate fraud, identity theft and human trafficking, illegal weapons trade and money laundering traverse easily across international boundaries. Repeated terrorist attacks around the world have been deadly reminders of the need to expand our overseas presence and work more closely than ever with our international counterparts to protect our common interests. The FBI therefore requests increases of $11.2 million and 14 positions, including nine agents, to expand the Legat Program and open four new offices and one sub-office overseas. Daily interaction between FBI Legat personnel and their foreign counterparts is crucial to building the mutual trust and cooperation that is essential to maintaining a good flow of information.

· Because of the increased counterterrorism workload, the need for quality translation services has never been greater. The FBI must have the manpower and resources to translate incoming intelligence quickly and accurately in support of all investigations. The FBI therefore requests increases of $12.8 million and 86 positions to support the Foreign Language Program, whose workload has more than doubled since September 11, 2001, as well as the National Virtual Translation Center (NVTC). The NVTC serves as a clearinghouse to provide quick, accurate translation of foreign intelligence to members of the Intelligence Community. To date, the NVTC has received over 15,000 pages of text and over 250 hours of audio in 16 different languages from members of the Intelligence Community. The FBI requests $7 million to support the NVTC.

Cyber
The FBI's number three priority remains cyber. We have seen an explosive growth in cyber crimes, both domestically and internationally. Terrorists can exploit information technology to attack our infrastructure and to facilitate their communications. The Internet has become a conduit for crime. As criminals and terrorists become more computer-savvy, we must not only keep pace, we must be a step ahead. Let me give you a few highlights of our progress in FY 2003:

· We are actively protecting our children from online sexual predators through our Innocent Images National Initiative. Last year, Innocent Images investigations resulted in 642 arrests, 754 criminal charges, and 755 convictions.

· Through our computer intrusion program, we identified over 1,300 compromised sites, resulting in 1,194 investigations, 78 criminal charges, 81 convictions and over $19 million in restitutions, recoveries, and fines.

· The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received more than 120,000 on-line complaints through its website since January 1, 2003, an increase of 60 percent from FY 2002. IC3's current volume of online complaints exceeds 14,000 per month, or approximately 168,000 per year.

· Operation Cyber Sweep, which wrapped up in November 2003, included more than 120 investigations in which more than 125,000 victims lost over $100 million. Operation Cyber Sweep resulted in 350 subjects identified, 125 arrests and convictions, and 70 criminal charges.

The FY 2005 budget request includes increases of $58.3 million and 188 positions, including 61 agents, for the Cyber program, which facilitates activities across all FBI programs. The funding and personnel requested for the Cyber program will allow the FBI to continue its aggressive pursuit of computer intrusion crimes, including those with ties to terrorist activity. These resources will also allow the FBI to develop new technology to ensure we are prepared to handle emerging cyber threats. In addition, an increase of $3 million included in the Cyber request will support the Innocent Images National Initiative, whose investigations have become increasingly complex and international in scope, and are critical to protecting our children.

Criminal
Turning for a moment to our criminal program, I recently approved a new concept for the FBI's criminal investigative mission. We will focus on the threat, not the instrumentality of the crime. Whether an enterprise manipulates stocks, or smuggles drugs, weapons or humans, we will focus on the criminal organization. This structure will eliminate stovepipes, improve information sharing across FBI programs, and allow us to fully integrate intelligence into our criminal programs-an important step in evolving the FBI into a more efficient intelligence-driven organization.

In addition to upholding its national security responsibilities in the areas of counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cyber, the FBI remains dedicated to fighting crime. Let me give you just a few examples:

· The FBI remains committed to investigating public corruption at all levels of government.

· Protecting civil rights and civil liberties, as well as combating criminal enterprises, remain high priorities for the FBI. Over the past two years, our civil rights program has focused particularly on hate crimes cases related to Muslim, Sikh, and Arab-Americans. In FY 2003 alone, the FBI initiated 96 hate crime investigations in which Arab-Americans, Muslims, or Sikhs were the victims. Charges were brought against 37 subjects.

· We continue to crack down on corporate corruption, and have aggressively investigated major fraud schemes that have cost investors billions of dollars in losses. The FBI, along with its partners, is investigating 170 major cases of corporate fraud. To date, 240 executives have been indicted and 132 have been convicted.

· The Enron Task Force has charged 29 individuals to date, has restrained more than $95 million in proceeds derived from criminal activity, and has obtained guilty pleas from former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Andrew S. Fastow and former Enron Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeffrey K. Skilling.

· To date, 18 former HealthSouth executives have been charged, including former CEO Richard Scrushy, and 15 have pled guilty.

· To date, six high-level former executives of Worldcom, including former CEO Bernard Ebbers, have been charged. Five have pled guilty, including former CFO Scott Sullivan.

· We continue combating health care fraud. In the past two years, civil recoveries in health care fraud matters have surpassed $1.8 billion. Criminal restitutions exceed $1.5 billion; and asset forfeiture and seizure totals have surpassed $109 million.

· We continue to investigate violent crimes and gang activity. The Washington Field Office (WFO) Safe Streets Task Force has been aggressively targeting a violent gang in the Washington, D.C., area with connections to gang activity in other states. In conjunction with their efforts, just yesterday, multiple arrests were made and search warrants were executed in the Washington, D.C., area, New York City, and Atlanta. Items seized include drugs and firearms, including a stolen police handgun. Similarly, in February 2003, the FBI's New Haven Division dismantled an extremely violent drug gang known as the "Brotherhood," one of the FBI's top thirty gang targets. The Brotherhood supplied cocaine and cocaine base to narcotics traffickers for resale in Connecticut.

· The FBI's drug program participates fully in the OCDETF and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Programs. Our counter-drug resources focus on the most significant criminal enterprises.

· Fugitive apprehension remains a concern to the FBI. These matters are often multi-jurisdictional and often require the FBI's unique resources to augment state and local law enforcement efforts. As the only federal law enforcement agency with complete national and international presence, the FBI targets and arrests the most violent fugitives who have fled beyond the reach of local jurisdictions.

For FY 2005, the FBI requests an increase of $6 million and 34 positions, including 26 agents, in order to build on our success in combating each of these criminal enterprises.

Forensic Program-CODIS
I want to take a moment to highlight the success of our Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) program. CODIS is an invaluable crime-solving tool that allows forensic crime laboratories to electronically compare and exchange DNA profiles of convicted offenders, unsolved crime scenes, and missing persons. In other words, CODIS enables investigators to link serial crimes to each other by matching DNA. It also allows investigators to match DNA collected from an unsolved crime scene to a convicted offender whose DNA is already in the system.

CODIS has been installed in 175 sites in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Army Crime Laboratory. Additionally, 31 international laboratories participate in the CODIS program. As of January 2004, over a million DNA samples from convicted offenders have been entered into CODIS as part of the Federal Convicted Offender Program. Participating laboratories have submitted 80,830 forensic DNA samples, including 567 samples for the Missing Persons database. To date, CODIS has aided over 11,000 investigations and made over 11,000 hits. Over 7,000 of these hits linked convicted offenders to DNA samples found at crime scenes.

Information Technology
We have made great progress on all investigative fronts-but our success rests upon a strong foundation of information technology. The FBI appreciates the Subcommittee's tremendous support in helping us to overhaul our information technology. Thanks to the resources you have provided, 500 counterterrorism and counterintelligence FBI Headquarters employees have been provided with access to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) at their desks. The Wide Area Network implementation was completed on schedule and the Enterprise Operations Center was up and running on schedule in March 2003. Improvements in data warehousing technology have dramatically reduced stove-piping and cut down on man-hours that used to be devoted to tedious extraction or entry of data.

As you know, during the past year we have encountered some setbacks regarding the deployment of Full Site Capability (FSC) and the Virtual Case File. With your help, we are working to resolve each issue, and we have made substantial progress. The FSC pilot was completed and deployed in the Richmond field office and its associated Resident Agencies (RAs) and off-sites in January 2004. On February 12, 2004, the FSC deployment began in Baltimore, and as of this past weekend, over 10,100 users have already been migrated to FSC. We will continue deployment throughout the country until completion in April 2004.

For FY 2005, the FBI requests increases of $20 million in technology investments to continue pushing the FBI forward. A portion of these resources will allow the FBI to install the TS/SCI Operational Network in up to 10 field offices and to add users to the Headquarters TS/SCI Local Area Network (LAN). The need for secure communications among FBI offices throughout the world has become even more essential. Expanding the TS/SCI network will provide TS/SCI e-mail, message delivery, and an electronically searchable archive on the desktop of every agent and analyst. I will continue to seek your help and support as the FBI moves forward into an increasingly high-tech future.

Infrastructure
Last, but certainly not least, I want to discuss another of my highest priorities-upgrading the FBI's infrastructure. It has become clear that a substantial investment is needed in our infrastructure now in order to prepare the FBI for the future. Upgrading the FBI Academy at Quantico is a vital step toward realizing my vision of state-of-the-art FBI facilities across the country. As you know, the FBI trains agents, analysts, and state, local, and international law enforcement officials at Quantico. While the facilities have been supporting an increased level of training requirements, they are over 30 years old, and are not in a condition conducive to 21st century training. We need to address these problems now in order to prevent further deterioration. Therefore, the FBI requests $21.3 million in nonpersonnel funding in order to renovate the FBI Academy and for operations and maintenance of the facility, so we can ensure the future of law enforcement has the best possible training environment.

Conclusion
We have made great progress. But our work is not yet finished. The FBI has a duty to protect the United States, secure freedom, and preserve justice for all Americans. The FBI has always answered-and will always answer-this call with fidelity, bravery, and integrity. The men and women of the FBI work tirelessly each and every day to fulfill the FBI's mandate to protect the United States. With the support of this Subcommittee, we can give the men and women of the FBI the resources they need to carry out their mission.