PROTECTING AMERICA
FBI Proposes Creation of a National Security Service
06/29/05
 On June 29, FBI Director
Mueller and Attorney General Gonzales met with members of the press in
the Attorney General's Conference Room to announce their proposal to
create a National Security Service within the FBI.
In Director
Mueller's words: "The development of the national security
service is the next step in the evolution of our ability to protect
the American public. It pulls together the Counterintelligence Division,
the Counterterrorism Division, and the Directorate of Intelligence,
enabling it to act together to develop intelligence and then to act
on that intelligence, in consultation with not only Department of Justice
but also the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). We look forward
to working with the DNI over the next 60 days to put in place additional
steps that may be required to give full implementation to the development
of this National Security Service."
His commentary
on two related issues:
- "What
the FBI brings to U.S. national security is an investigative,
intelligence-development capability that not only is effective,
it brings to the field a discrete
expertise, but also is steeped in the tradition of adherence
to the Constitution and understanding the civil liberties under
which we
operate. We are establishing a career path, starting October
1st, where every one of our new agents coming out of new agents
class
will spend three years at a small- or mid-sized office learning
about the criminal justice system, learning about the parameters
under
which we gather information and intelligence within the United
States, before they then go on and specialize in one of the intelligence
specialities that is set up by this National Security Service."
- "I
don't see [the National Security Service] as a loss of independence
at
all. I see it as an acknowledgment and a furtherance of the
development of the FBI to respond to the threats of today. I
see it as an acknowledgment
that the FBI plays a fundamental role in developing intelligence
within the United States, particularly its role and association
with state and local law enforcement. We have 700,000 state and
local
law enforcement officers throughout the United States. There
is no one agency that can protect the United States. We all have
to work
together. And building up this capacity in a national security
service will enable us to develop expertise and specialities
in the intelligence
arena in ways we have not done in the past, but it also enables
us to work closely with state and local law enforcement, who
ultimately
are the ones that will give us the protection we need against
another terrorist attack. We cannot do it alone. It is us working
together
with state and local law enforcement. And, to the extent that
we have been successful within the United States in the last
3.5 years,
much of the credit goes to state and local law enforcement,
who are attuned to these threats, working on the joint terrorism
task forces
or by themselves. So I see it as a gain. I do not see it as
a diminishment of authority. And I see it as the next step in
the evolution of the
FBI as it becomes better prepared to address the threats of
the future."
Links: Please
learn more about FBI national security programs: The
Directorate of Intelligence | Counterterrorism
program | Counterintelligence
program
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