10/16/03
How
do you protect the U.S. economy in an age where threats to
our financial well being come from the four corners of the
globe?
That
is the question FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III answered
in a major address before the Detroit Economic Club.
Speaking
with more than 300 business executives, civic leaders, and
students from southeast Michigan, Director Mueller said the
United States has entered "a new age of high impact crimes."
The threats range from international terrorism to global criminal
syndicates, from cyber attacks to corporate fraud.
The FBI,
said Director Mueller, is the agency that can protect the
economy from these threats. Why? Because it has partnerships
that span the globe, the ability to fight traditional crimes
and complex worldwide threats in tandem, and a set of law
enforcement and intelligence tools that work hand-in-hand.
"We must
fight crime even as we roll up terrorist cells, using the
same investigative capabilities to root out corporate fraud
as we use to catch financiers wiring funds to terrorists.
We must work locally but think globally. And we must apply
our unique strengths even as we share them and blend them
with those of other agencies. This is the FBI of today, and
this is the future of the FBI."
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