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On 8/17, Executive Assistant Director Maureen Baginski testified before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security to discuss progress on the information-sharing recommendations of the 9-11 Commission.

"Our core guiding principle at the FBI is that intelligence and law enforcement operations must be integrated," she began. And because operational coordination requires the full and free exchange of information, "we have taken steps to establish unified FBI-wide policies for sharing information and intelligence both within the FBI and outside it."

Our work to date has been on strengthening FBI capabilities so that we can be a strong node on the information network of those who defend the nation. Vital information about those who would do us harm is not produced by the federal government alone. We are proud to also be part of an 800,000 strong state, local, and tribal law enforcement community who are the first to encounter and defend against threats.
For example:

• We placed reports officers in our Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) to ensure vital information is flowing to those who need it. These reports officers are trained to produce intelligence reports that both protect sources and methods and maximize the amount of information that can be shared.
  
• We established Field Intelligence Groups (FIGs) to integrate analysts, Agents, linguists, and surveillance personnel in the field to bring a dedicated team focus to intelligence operations. As of June 2004, there are 1,450 FIG personnel, including 382 Special Agents and 160 employees from other Government agencies.
  
• We are committed to providing those tools which assist law enforcement in intelligence-led policing -- from the National Crime Information Center, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, and the Interstate Identification Index, to Law Enforcement Online (LEO), a virtual private network that reaches federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies at the Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) level.

• We share intelligence with other members of the Intelligence Community, to include the intelligence components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through direct classified and unclassified dissemination and through websites on classified Intelligence Community networks.
  
• We share intelligence with representatives of other elements of the Intelligence Community who participate in JTTFs in the United States or with whom the FBI collaborates in activities abroad. FBI intelligence products shared with the Intelligence Community include both raw and finished intelligence reports.
  
• FBI intelligence products shared with the Intelligence Community include Intelligence Information Reports (IIRs), Intelligence Assessments, and Intelligence Bulletins.
  
• We have also established a robust channel for sharing information with the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC). TTIC's mission is to enable full integration of terrorist threat-related information and analysis.