Thank
you Senator Roberts and President Wefald. Thank you faculty and
students, patrons, and alumni. I am indeed honored to be here.
It was pointed out to me that I am the first FBI Director to speak
at the Alfred Landon Lecture Series. While that may be the case,
I want to point out that it is not the first time the FBI has
been here.
I
recall one historical visit in 1968, when the FBI was here to
protect Senator Robert Kennedy. The former Attorney General had
just announced his candidacy for President. Prior to his speech,
Kennedy received threatening letters. And the FBI was called upon
to provide added protection at that event.
The FBI's
role in protecting Americans has changed with the times. Usually
it changes in response to an emerging threat or a major incident.
As
it happens, one of these incidents occurred in nearby Kansas City
on June 17, 1933, when FBI special agents and police officers
were waiting outside the train station to pick up a prisoner on
his way to the penitentiary in Leavenworth.
Friends of the prisoner had an escape plan and called on "Pretty
Boy" Floyd for help. At about 7:20 in the morning, Floyd
and his cohorts began shooting. In about 30 seconds it was over.
Two lawmen were wounded. Four, as well as the prisoner, were dead.
The attacks became known as the "Kansas City Massacre."
This
incident caused an uproar in the political and law enforcement
communities. It changed American attitudes about crime and law
enforcement. It also dramatically influenced the evolution of
the FBI as an organization. Until then, the FBI had been a small
agency composed of investigators who were not permitted to carry
firearms or to make arrests.
That
was about to change. Less than a year later, President Roosevelt
signed into law several statutes increasing the Bureau's jurisdiction.
The FBI would lead the fight against gangsters, earning Special
Agents the name of government-men or "G-men."
Throughout
its history, the FBI has always changed to meet new threats. Although,
probably at no time in history has the FBI changed on such a large
scale as in the past two-and-a-half years.
Today,
I want to give you a broad look at these changes. I will explain
why change was needed, describe these changes, and show what the
FBI has accomplished by its efforts to protect Americans.
To
look at "why" the FBI needed to change, think back to
when it was established. Nearly a century ago, the FBI was created
to investigate criminal activity that had begun to cross county
and state lines. As America's crime problem evolved, so did the
Bureau. Its mission grew and changed through the gangster era
and into the Cold War, when national security and espionage threats
came to the forefront.
Today,
criminal and terrorist threats increasingly have an international
dimension. Jet travel, cell phones and the Internet have made
it the rare case that does not cross international boundaries.
We
recently had a case in Antarctica, where a U.S. scientific research
station reported to us that their systems had been hacked into
and their data corrupted. They asked for our help. Antarctica
was frozen over and aircraft would not be allowed to land there
for another six months.
But in Washington, our investigators were able to trace the source
of the intrusion to a server in a trucking company outside Pittsburgh.
Soon after, we identified two suspects in Romania, and - with
the help of the Romanian authorities - they were arrested and
are currently being prosecuted. Today, cases with an international
nexus have become the rule rather than the exception.
By
September 11, 2001, we knew the world was changing. The world
was growing smaller and more interconnected in an evolving crime
landscape. In the wake of September 11th, it became clear that
the FBI needed to change even more than had been anticipated.
Immediately
following 9/11, the FBI's number one priority became the prevention
of terrorist attacks. This required a systematic approach examining
all aspects of Bureau operations. Everything from how we communicate
inside the FBI to how we communicate outside to other agencies;
how we refocus on terrorism, but continue to uphold our other
responsibilities; how we disseminate our intelligence information,
yet protect it from foreign spies who want to know what we know.
Our
review was comprehensive. For the sake of explanation, let me
approach it the way an agent approaches a case. The first questions
an agent asks are who, what, where, when, why, and how. I will
address each one - although necessarily not in that order.
Given
the evolution of threats, we can see "why" the FBI needed
to change. The next question is "what" the FBI needed
to do to successfully carry out its new mission. Let me begin
by offering you a look at the problem from where we stand. I want
to give you four hypothetical scenarios. See if you can remember
them, because I will come back to them later.
o One, a home is raided, and containers found inside test positive
for ricin - a deadly poison.
o Two, a police officer pulls over an individual for exceeding
the speed limit on I-70 and runs a background check which indicates
that the man may be a known or suspected terrorist.
o Three, an unattended briefcase is found on a train headed to
Washington, D.C.
o Four, in Abu Dhabi, a U.S. citizen is reported by her family
to be missing, possibly kidnapped.
Any one of these diverse incidents could be harmless. Or any one
of these could be related to terrorism. They are the kind of situations
that confront the FBI each and every day. Although this list is
incomplete, it does give you an idea of the range of matters the
FBI is asked to resolve.
In
order to emphasize our mission of prevention, we first had to
look at "what" we were doing. As a result, we restructured
our priorities into three areas: national security, criminal,
and support. Under national security we have reorganized so that
counterterrorism is the overarching priority. Every terrorism
lead is addressed, even if it requires a diversion of resources
from other areas.
Our
second priority is counterintelligence. Spies from other countries
want to steal our secrets. They have seen our successes in Afghanistan
and Iraq with laser guided weapons, command and control communications.
These countries want this technology without having to develop
it themselves. We must protect our national secrets.
The
last national security priority is preventing cyber attacks on
our computers, financial institutions and infrastructure. Needless
to say this is a growth industry.
Next
are our criminal priorities. Those are public corruption, protection
of civil rights, transnational and national criminal enterprises,
major white collar crimes and significant violent crimes.
Lastly,
the two support priorities are important to us because they help
us to accomplish the operational priorities I have just mentioned.
The first one is the development of partnerships with state and
local law enforcement and our counterparts overseas. The second
is completing the upgrade of our information technology.
On
top of the "what" that helped us re-order our priorities,
we had to look at "where" we would shift FBI resources
to ensure that we could accomplish our goals. To confront an enemy
as cunning as Al Qaeda, it was clear that the FBI would have to
become more flexible, more agile, and more mobile. First, we needed
more manpower. Since September 11th, we have doubled the number
of Special Agents and analysts in counterterrorism and added approximately
450 translators.
We
also established specialized operational units that give us new
capabilities to address the terrorist threat. One focuses on terrorist
financing, and another exploits evidence found overseas. Yet another
conducts background checks on individuals seeking biological agents
here in the United States. One special task force is dedicated
solely to finding terrorists overseas and keeping them out of
the United States, while multiple "Fly Teams" travel
wherever and whenever they are needed to lend their counterterrorism
expertise.
Remember
the hypothetical scenario with the ricin found in a person's home?
Our Bioterrorism Risk Assessment Group, one of our new initiatives,
determines that the suspect does have access to toxins because
of his job at a university, but represents a low risk for terrorism.
We put that issue to rest.
Aside
from where we put our resources, we also needed to question "how"
we were operating. There are three important ways the FBI has
changed how we do our work. The first is that, in the past, the
investigation of terrorism threats was generally focused in the
field office where they originated - along with all the information
and records pertaining to that case. This made it difficult to
see connections and patterns. Now the FBI operates under centralized
management of our counterterrorism program. The result is better
coordination within the FBI, and between the FBI and our law enforcement
and intelligence counterparts.
The
second change is directed at upgrading our technology. Today more
than ever, the FBI must rely on integrated information technology
systems. We have made significant progress in upgrading our information
technology to improve our ability to search for information, analyze
it, draw connections, and share it both inside the Bureau and
outside with our partners. This year, we will implement software
that will, for the first time, move the FBI from being a paper-driven
organization to a digital organization.
The
adoption of intelligence technology has already improved our capabilities.
During the Super Bowl in Houston this year, we were able to conduct
over 65,000 queries in three days. In the past, an analyst worked
three months to do the equivalent.
The
third change is in how we support our operations. An administrative
re-engineering is making the FBI more efficient and more responsive.
We have also strengthened our recruiting and hiring to attract
persons with the skills we need to carry out our counterterrorism
and our intelligence missions, such as backgrounds in computer
sciences, Middle-Eastern studies, or foreign languages.
And
perhaps this is a good time for me to put in a recruiting plug
to those of you who might be interested in coming to work for
us. At the FBI, we have many different types of jobs. We have
experts in fields from martial arts to graphic arts. So if you
are interested in law enforcement or if you simply want to serve
your country, give us a call. We always need more good people.
Aside
from our aggressive recruitment efforts, we have developed better
training and new leadership initiatives to keep our employees
learning and growing throughout their careers. And as a final
administrative change, we have built up our internal security
to protect us from spies.
After
"how" we do business, the next element in the FBI's
transformation is one of the most important. It is also an area
to which Senator Roberts has focused much of his time and effort.
It is the need for better intelligence information. And with regard
to intelligence, timing is everything. Today's intelligence is
tomorrow's old news, which is why we needed to address the question
of "when." We need to have the information we need "when"
we need it.
Essential
to predicting and preventing future terrorist attacks is improving
our intelligence analysis. The FBI has always used intelligence
to solve cases. It is how we pursued Nazi spies during World War
II and La Cosa Nostra in the seventies and eighties. Over the
years, the FBI has developed sophisticated intelligence-gathering
capabilities.
To
improve these capabilities, we increased the number of intelligence
analysts. We expanded their career path, set performance standards,
and developed training that will be ongoing for their entire career.
The
goal is to integrate intelligence into all of our operations to
produce a seamless, predictive, analytical capability. But intelligence
can only help if it is shared. Today, we produce daily intelligence
reports and bulletins to share with the intelligence community
as well as with our state and local partners.
Now
go back to the scenario with the suspicious man who was pulled
over by the police officer. There, a call is made to the Terrorist
Screening Center. An analyst runs a check on the name and indicates
that the man who has been stopped is not the terrorist suspect
for whom we were looking. The individual is allowed to continue
on his way.
The
final question we had to address was "who." We cannot
defeat terrorists without strong partnerships throughout the law
enforcement, the intelligence and the international communities.
Knowing this, we have focused on improving the level of coordination
and information sharing with state and local law enforcement.
Our 84 Joint Terrorism Task Forces put federal, state, and local
law enforcement together to investigate threats and share information.
In communities across the country, they are the eyes and ears
in the fight against terrorism.
Remember
our scenario with the briefcase left on a train? Here a call goes
out to the local FBI office, and members of the Joint Terrorism
Task Force coordinate the response and determine it was inadvertently
left behind by a passenger.
The
age of global threats has moved the Bureau into an age of global
partnerships. The clear-cut divisions of responsibility and jurisdictions
that once existed between agencies - and between countries - are
becoming less and less relevant. How can we defeat international
terrorism without the help of countries such as Great Britain,
Germany, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Kenya?
That
is why the FBI, like many institutions, has gone global. Our first
international office was established in 1940. Today, we have 46
of these "Legal Attaché" offices in embassies
around the world.
To
help strengthen our partnerships at all levels, the FBI provides
training to state, local and international law enforcement. We
offer FBI academies in Budapest and Dubai, where the FBI trains
officers from other countries. Amongst those trained were officers
from Saudi Arabia. When the FBI responded to the bombings in Riyadh
last year, the Saudi's told us: "We trained together, now
we can work together."
Remember
the scenario with the missing United States citizen? Thanks to
our new Legal Attaché office in Abu Dhabi, we are able
to work cooperatively with local law enforcement. They find the
woman, who was sick and had simply been out of touch for a few
days.
You
will note that all four of our scenarios were found not to be
terrorism-related. In each case, the FBI employed methods that
are either new or improved since September 11th. While many more
threats exist in the world, these examples give you an idea how
many stones must be overturned in the fight against terrorism.
It is an extremely difficult challenge, but we are making progress.
This
is merely a broad overview of how the FBI has been changing over
the past two-and-one-half years. By describing these changes,
as well as some of the thinking behind them, it is my hope to
give you a better idea of how the FBI is working to protect you
and your families.
When
Robert Kennedy spoke here that day in 1968, guarded by FBI Agents,
he said, "We are in a time of unprecedented turbulence, of
danger, of questioning." His statement was true then, and
it is also true today.
The
examples I used today show the enormity of the task we face in
turning over every stone - and how many searches, thankfully,
turn up nothing at all. It can be difficult to measure what you
do not find. But I can say that our counterterrorism efforts have
produced significant results. Since September 11, 2001, the FBI
has worked with our partners to disrupt a number of terrorist
operations both here and overseas.
Our
partners in the CIA and the military have removed the sanctuary
of Afghanistan and, together, we have captured thousands of Al
Qaeda operatives around the world, including much of their leadership.
We have conducted more than 70 investigations into terrorist money
trails and frozen more than $125 million in assets.
We have made steady progress in the war against terrorism, but
our work is not yet finished. As evidenced by the March 11 attacks
in Spain, terrorists remain capable of organizing large-scale
attacks.
In the midst of these organizational changes, let me state that
there are some things in the FBI that should not change and, indeed,
I hope will never change.
One
thing we did not have to question after 9/11 is our core values.
These values include strict adherence to the Constitution. The
FBI is committed to protecting civil liberties. Because years
from now we will be judged not only on whether we defeat terrorism,
but also by how well we uphold our cherished civil liberties.
These rights must not now- not ever - be taken for granted.
Another
constant is the outstanding devotion to duty of FBI employees.
The culture of the FBI has always been a culture of hard work,
integrity, and dedication to protecting the United States. I see
this culture every day, in every FBI office, and in every FBI
employee.
Our
transformation is succeeding, but it has been demanding. For the
changes we have made, one must give full credit to the men and
women of the FBI. Many of them have consistently sacrificed, placing
duty to our country over their own self-interest as they undertook
these new challenges.
They
do this because in their hearts they know the FBI's primary responsibility
is to protect the citizens of the United States, to secure freedom
and to preserve justice for all Americans. The FBI has always
answered this call with fidelity, bravery, and integrity. It is
our motto. It is our fundamental creed.
We
in the FBI have come a long way since the days of the Kansas City
Massacre, since the days when Bobby Kennedy was here speaking.
We in the FBI have committed ourselves to making the fundamental
changes necessary to combat evolving threats that target our country.
We have made progress, and we will continue to meet - and to defeat
- all threats against the security of our nation and its citizens.
Thank
you for having me today. I am happy to take your questions.