Statement
of FBI Director Robert Mueller at Counterterrorism/Information Technology
Press Briefing
Over a year ago,
we in the FBI committed ourselves to unprecedented change. In areas
like information sharing, we recognized that to be successful, we had
to share information in ways we had not done before. Today we are a
changed organization -- stronger, better focused. I believe we have
made monumental strides in a number of key areas which will help make
us the kind of counterterrorism, counterintelligence and criminal investigative
agency we need to be to best protect the American people.
Today, we are going
to talk in depth about information technology, information management,
but at the outset I want to mention the Terrorist Threat Integration
Center. As you know, the President directed DCI Tenet, Secretaries Ridge
and Rumsfeld, and myself to develop an integrated center to merge and
analyze all threat information in a single location.
I believe the Center
will be a powerful mechanism to jointly analyze and digest threat information
emanating from anywhere in the world -- and ensure that all information
on a particular threat is shared.
I look forward
to working closely with DCI Tenet to form the Center -- to bring together
and maximize the existing and potential strengths of the contributing
agencies and to strengthen cooperation and foster closer working relationships
-- all toward the common goal of protecting the American people.
The Center will
be an important part of a transformed FBI, and better position us to
prevent another terrorist attack.