ISSUES
OF THE DAY:
The FBI, Changing to Meet Today's Challenges
04/13/04
Today,
on April 13, Director Mueller is addressing the
Alfred M. Landon Lecture Series at Kansas State
University. His address, the first in
this distinguished forum by an FBI Director, presents
a snapshot of an agency that has transformed itself
since the attacks of 9/11/01 to detect and prevent
terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.
"Immediately
following 9/11," he says, "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 terrorism,
but continue to uphold our other responsibilities;
how we keep our intelligence information from being
stove-piped, yet protect it from foreign spies who
want to know what we know."
Audio
and text copies of his address can be found at the
Kansas State University website, www.dce.k-state.edu/dce/broadcast/landon.
And
please note: tomorrow, April 14, the FBI testifies
before the 9/11 Commission at its 10th public hearing,
which is focusing on Law Enforcement and the Intelligence
Community.
- Executive
Assistant Director of Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence
John Pistole is testifying at 11:00 am on the
subject of "Preventing Future Attacks inside
the United States." Appearing with him on
the panel are Terrorist Threat Integration Center
Director John Brennan; Department of Homeland
Security Assistant Secretary Patrick Hughes;
and CIA's Deputy Director of Operations James
Pavitt.
- At
2:30 pm, Director Mueller will be testifying
with FBI Executive Assistant Director of Intelligence
Mo Baginski on the subject of "FBI Leadership
and Initiatives Post 9/11."
These
hearings, as you know, closely concern the future
safety of the United States and also the future
shape of the FBI. We encourage you to read
the testimony that will be posted on this site.
We also encourage you to read the FBI's Report
to the Commission, posted on this site tomorrow,
entitled The FBI's Counterterrorism Program
Since September 2001. More than a
description of what we have done to date, this
report is a blueprint for our future and lays out
the 7-part plan that is fundamentally transforming
our organization to ensure we predict and prevent
acts of terrorism directed against America.
