PRESIDENT'S REMARKS MARKING 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF OFFICE OF DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
April 24, 2015
Remarks by the President Marking the 10th Anniversary of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
McLean, Virginia
2:40 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you so much.  Please, please, have a seat.  Thank you very much.  Well, thank you, Jim, for that introduction.  And former Director Negroponte, we are -- there he is -- we are thrilled to have you here, as well.

I am here to help mark the 10th anniversary of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  And I’m here for a simple reason:  Jim asked me to come.  (Laughter.)  You see, as you might say with the IC, Jim is one of my best HUMINT sources.  He is well-placed.  His reporting is known to be reliable.  So I accepted his invitation with a high degree of confidence.  (Laughter.)

I want to thank you, Jim, and your entire team, and leaders from across the IC, for all of you taking the time to welcoming me here today.  I’m not going to give a long speech, but I do have three basic messages that I wanted to convey.

The first is that I don’t know how astute a consumer of information I am, but I can tell you I sure do rely on it.  And those who come and brief me every single morning do an extraordinary job.

I will say that the only flaw, generally, in what’s called the PDB that I receive is that when Jim provides it, some of you may have heard, he leaves paperclips all over my office.  (Laughter.)  They’re in the couch, they’re on the floor.  He’s shuffling paper.  And so because I knew I was coming over here, one of the things I did was return them all.  (Laughter and applause.)  And so this will be available to you.  The DNI’s budget is always a little tight; we can start recycling these.  (Laughter.)  That’s going to be critical.

But Jim is often one of the first people that I see in the morning, during the Presidential Daily Brief.  Jim always gives it to me straight.  He gives me his honest assessment free of politics, free of spin.  I trust his integrity.  And I can’t tell you how invaluable that is in the job that he has.

And that culture is one that permeates our IC.  It’s a culture that reflects leaders at the top.  And nobody, I think, exemplifies that more than Jim Clapper.  So I am very grateful for him.

Here at ODNI, Jim has also led important reforms, both within the office and across the intelligence community.  Today, the Community is more collaborative and more integrated than it has ever been in the past.

And since no good deed ever goes unpunished, in appreciation of this integrity and outstanding work, I sent Jim to North Korea.  (Laughter.)  And I know he had a wonderful time in Pyongyang.  But thanks to the role that Jim played, he returned home with Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller to be reunited with their families.

Today is also special to him because it happens to be his 50th wedding anniversary to his wonderful wife, Sue.  So we want to congratulate the two of them.   (Applause.)  And fear not, this is not all he’s doing for their 50th wedding anniversary.  (Laughter.)  My understanding is they’re headed off for a well-deserved anniversary vacation this weekend.  So I'm going to move this along.

The second reason I wanted to be here was to thank all of you at ODNI.  I see Jim or Mike Dempsey, or sometimes Stephanie, every morning.  And I know that everything they present reflects incredible hard work on the part of hundreds of people -- thousands of people across the various agencies that are represented.  And I want you to know that Jim and Mike and Stephanie, and all the folks who give me these briefings, they are the first one to acknowledge that they are just the tip of the operation and that they can’t do their job if it weren’t for the incredible contributions that all of you are making every single day.

I know that sometimes it can seem like a one-way street.  You push up your reports, but you don’t always know how your work is received by your customers, and I guess I'm the number one customer.  You don’t always maybe get feedback.  So I'm here just to tell you, you do an outstanding job.  The work that you provide is vital for me being able to make good decisions.  And the fact that the work you prepare is giving it to me straight -- that doesn’t look at the world through rose-colored glasses, that doesn’t exaggerate threats but doesn’t underplay the significant challenges that we face around the world -- that’s vitally important to me and, as a consequence, vitally important to the security of the American people.

So Jim knows it, Mike know it.  The people who meet with me are always extolling your virtues.  But I figured it would be useful for you to hear it from me directly in saying how much we appreciate the incredible hard work and effort that you make every single day.

Whether it’s the PDB, your daily articles, your expert briefs, NIE’s, I could not do my job without your insights and your analysis, and your judgment.

More broadly, you’re dedicated to your founding mission.  The 9/11 Commission said we needed to unify our intelligence community.  The legislation that created the DNI made you the statutory head of the Community overseeing all the agencies.

And it’s not an easy task bringing together 17 different organizations.  They each have unique histories and missions and cultures and tradecraft.  Many of you here represent those agencies.  And yet, you come here together to create a sum that’s even greater and stronger than its individual parts.

And we see the results.  We’ve got more sharing of intelligence across the Community and also beyond it, with our other partners.   The federal, state, local and the private sectors are now working together more effectively than they have in the past.  New technologies and new satellites are being shared and working across various platforms means that we’re able to do a better job both accumulating information but also disseminating it.  There’s more transparency than there’s been in the past.  There’s more innovation than there’s been in the past.  All that is making a difference each and every day.

I know that integrating the efforts and contributions of all 17 organizations, people, expertise, capabilities, is never-ending work.  And then there’s the challenge of being as open and transparent as possible, even as we continue to protect intelligence that saves lives.

But I want you to remember the United States is the most professional, most capable, most cutting-edge intelligence community in the world.  And part of the reason is because all of you here at ODNI bring it together.  It makes a difference.

Which brings me to my third and final point.  A message that I hope you share with the colleagues who are not in this auditorium, I want you to share it with all the home agencies:  You can take great pride in your service.

Many of you -- those of you with gray beards or goatees, or, in Jim’s case, just no hair -- (laughter) -- are intelligence veterans with decades of service.  Some of you are young, and look even younger; a new post-9/11 generation.  And over the years, I know some of you have lost good friends and colleagues -- patriots, men and women who gave their lives, like those honored in the stars on the Memorial Wall at Langley.  On days like today, we remember them and we honor them, as well.

These are challenging times.  And over the last few years, we’ve seen unprecedented intelligence disclosures.  We’ve seen wild swings with respect to our budgets because of sequestration and furloughs; increasing demands for intelligence due to everything from Russian aggression in Ukraine to turmoil and ISIL in the Middle East.

And today, like all Americans, our thoughts and prayers also continue to be with the families of Dr. Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto.  I’m not going to repeat everything I said yesterday, but I do want to make one point again.  We’re going to review what happened.  We’re going to identify the lessons that can be learned and any improvements and changes that can be made.  And I know those of you who are here share our determination to continue doing everything we can to prevent the loss of innocent lives.

I was asked by somebody -- how do you absorb news like that that we received the other day.  And I told the truth:  It’s hard.  But the one thing I wanted everybody to know -- because I know you, because I work with you, because I know the quality of this team -- is that we all bleed when we lose an American life.  We all grieve when any innocent life is taken.  We don’t take this work lightly.  And I know that each and every one of you understand the magnitude of what we do and the stakes involved.

And these aren’t abstractions.  And we’re not cavalier about what we do, and we understand the solemn responsibilities that are given to us.  And our first job is to make sure that we protect the American people.  But there’s not a person that I talk to that’s involved in the intelligence community that also doesn’t understand that we have to do so while upholding our values and our ideals, and our laws and our constitutions, and our commitment to democracy.

And that’s part of the reason why I’m so grateful to work with you, because I know you share that commitment, understanding that this is hard stuff.  Everybody here is committed to doing it the right way.  And for that reason, I’m absolutely committed to making sure that the American people understand all that you put in to make sure that we do it the right way.  I’m very grateful for that.

This self-reflection, this willingness to examine ourselves, to make corrections, to do better -- that’s part of what makes us Americans.  It’s part of what sets us apart from other nations.  It’s part of what keeps us not only safe but also strong and free.

And part of what makes our job even more challenging is, is that despite the extraordinary work that’s done here and the lives that are saved on an ongoing basis, a lot of our work still requires that we maintain some things as classified.  And we can’t always talk about all the challenges.  And the one thing I know about people in the IC is they don’t seek the limelight.  That means, sometimes, that the world doesn’t always see your successes, the threats that you prevent or the terrorist attacks you thwart, or the lives that you save.

But I don’t want you or folks across the intelligence community to ever forget the difference that you make every day.  Because of you, we’ve had the intelligence to take out al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden.  Because of you, we’ve had the intelligence, quickly, that showed Syria had used chemical weapons, and then had the ability to monitor its removal.  Because of you, we had the intelligence, despite Russia’s obfuscations, to tell the world the truth about the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine.  Because of you, we had the intelligence support that helped enable our recent nuclear framework with Iran.  And you’re going to be critical to our efforts to forge a comprehensive deal to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon.

So you help keep us safe, but you also help protect our freedoms by doing it the right way.  And the American people and people around the world may never know the full extent of your success.  There may be those outside who question or challenge what we do -- and we welcome those questions and those challenges because that makes us better.  It can be frustrating sometimes, but that’s part of the function of our democracy.

But I know what you do.  We’re more secure because of your service.  We’re more secure because of your patriotism and your professionalism.  And I’m grateful for that.  And the American people are grateful, as well -- to you and your families who sacrifice alongside you.

So it’s been 10 long and challenging years.  But when we look back on those 10 years, the American people have been a whole lot safer.  And I’m confident that over the next 10 years and 10 years after that, as long as we continue to have outstanding patriots like yourselves, we’re going to be okay.

Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless America.  (Applause.)

END
2:57 P.M. EDT

OFFICIALS APPEAR BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Officials Discuss Intelligence Programs at Senate Hearing
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2013 - At a hearing yesterday before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. discussed a NSA-managed classified intelligence program, one of two made public by a security leak in June.

Joining Alexander and Clapper was Deputy Attorney General James Cole. All were called to testify about both programs leaked to the press by former NSA systems administrator Edward Snowden -- Section 215 of the Patriot Act, also known as NSA's 215 business records program, and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

In the months since the leaks, media reports have said the programs involve secret surveillance by NSA of phone calls and online activities of U.S. citizens, and revealed unauthorized disclosures of information by NSA, generating distrust of the agency and calls for an end to the programs.

Section 702 of FISA and Section 215 of the Patriot Act both were authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, first approved by Congress in 1978.

Section 702 authorizes access, under court oversight, to records and other items belonging to foreign targets located outside the United States. Section 215 broadens FISA to allow the FBI director or other high-ranking officials there to apply for orders to examine telephone metadata to help with terrorism investigations.

In 2012, these programs resulted in the examination of fewer than 300 selectors, or phone numbers, in the NSA database, Alexander said during a congressional hearing in July.

In his remarks, Cole described the 215 program, explaining that it involves collecting only metadata from telephone calls.

"What is collected as metadata is quite limited. ... It is the number a telephone calls ... It doesn't include the name of the person called," Cole said. "It doesn't include the location of the person called. It doesn't include any content of that communication. It doesn't include financial information ... It is just the number that was called, the date and the length of the call."

"If you want any additional information beyond that, you would have to go and get other legal processes to find that information and acquire it," he added.

Such metadata can only be looked at when there is a reasonable, articulable suspicion for a specific phone number to be queried in the database, Cole said.

"Otherwise," he said, "we do not and cannot just roam through this database looking for whatever connections we may think are interesting or in any way look at it beyond the restrictions in the court order."

Only a small number of analysts can make such a determination, and that determination must be documented so it can be reviewed by a supervisor and later reviewed for compliance purposes, Cole added. The program is conducted according to authorization by the FISA Court, which must reapprove the program every 90 days.

"Since the court originally authorized this program in 2006, it has been reapproved on 34 separate occasions by 14 individual Article Three judges of the FISA Court," Cole said. "Each reapproval indicates the court's conclusion that the collection was permissible under Section 215 and satisfied all constitutional requirements."

Article Three of the U.S. Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal government.

Oversight of the 215 program involves all three branches of government, including the FISA Court and the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees of both houses of Congress, Cole said. Every 90 days, the Department of Justice reviews a sample of NSA's queries to determine whether the reasonable articulable requirement has been met.

DOJ lawyers meet every 90 days with NSA operators and with the NSA inspector general to discuss the program's operation and any compliance issues that may arise, Cole explained.

With respect to Congress, "we have reported any significant compliance problems, such as those uncovered in 2009, to the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees of both houses," he said.

"Those documents have since been declassified and released by the DNI to give the public a better understanding of how the government and the FISA court respond to compliance problems once they're identified," Cole said.

In his testimony, Alexander told the panel that NSA's implementation of Section 215 of the Patriot Act focuses on defending the homeland by linking foreign and domestic threats.

Section 702 of FISA focuses on acquiring foreign intelligence, he said, including critical information concerning international terrorist organizations, by targeting non-U.S. persons who are reasonably believed to be outside the United States.

NSA also operates under other sections of the FISA statute in accordance with the law's provisions, Alexander said.

"To target a U.S. person anywhere in the world, under the FISA statute we are required to obtain a court order based on a probable cause showing that the prospective target of the surveillance is a foreign power or agent of a foreign power," he explained.

"As I have said before, these authorities and capabilities are powerful," Alexander said. "We take our responsibility seriously."

NSA stood up a directorate of compliance in 2009 and regularly trains the entire workforce in privacy protections and the proper use of capabilities, he said.

"We do make mistakes," Alexander noted.

"Compliance incidents, with very rare exceptions, are unintentional and reflect the sorts of errors that occur in any complex system of technical activity," he said.

The press has claimed evidence of thousands of privacy violations but that is false and misleading, Alexander said.

"According to NSA's independent inspector general, there have been only 12 substantiated cases of willful violation over 10 years. Essentially one per year," he said. "Several of these cases were referred to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution, and appropriate disciplinary action in other cases. We hold ourselves accountable every day."

Of 2,776 violations noted in the press, he said, about 75 percent were not violations of court-approved procedures but rather were NSA's detection of valid foreign targets that traveled to the United States. The targets are called roamers and failure to stop collecting on them as soon as they enter the United States from a foreign country is considered a violation that must be reported.

"NSA has a privacy compliance program that any leader of a large, complex organization would be proud of," Alexander said. "We welcome an ongoing discussion about how the public can, going forward, have increased information about NSA's compliance program and its compliance posture, much the same way all three branches of the government have today."

NSA's programs have contributed to understanding and disrupting 54 terrorism-related events, Alexander told the panel, with 25 in Europe, 11 in Asia, five in Africa, and 13 in the United States.

"This was no accident. This was not coincidence. These are the direct results of a dedicated workforce, appropriate policy, and well-scoped authorities created in the wake of 9/11, to make sure 9/11 never happens again," Alexander said.

In the week ending 23 Sept., he said, there were 972 terrorism-related deaths in Kenya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Another 1,030 people were injured in the same countries.

"The programs I've been talking about -- we need these programs to protect this nation, to ensure that we don't have those same statistics here," Alexander said.

With respect to reforms, he said, on Aug. 9 President Barack Obama laid out specific steps to increase the confidence of the American people in the NSA foreign intelligence collection programs.

"We are always looking for ways to better protect privacy and security," Alexander said. "We have improved over time our ability to reconcile our technology with our operations and with the rules and authorities. We will continue to do so as we go forward and strive to improve how we protect the American people, their privacy and their security."

In his remarks to the panel, Clapper said that over past 3 months he's declassified and publicly released a series of documents related to Section 215 Section 702.

"We did that to facilitate informed public debate about the important intelligence collection programs," he said. "We felt in the light of the unauthorized disclosures, the public interest in these documents far outweigh the potential additional damage to national security. These documents [allow them to] see the seriousness, thoroughness and rigor with which the FISA Court exercises its responsibilities."

Even in these documents, Clapper said, officials had to redact some information to protect sensitive sources and methods such as particular targets of surveillance.

"We'll continue to declassify more documents. It's what the American people want," he said. "It's what the president has asked us to do. And I personally believe it's the only way we can reassure our citizens that the intelligence community is using its tools and authorities appropriately."

But, Clapper said, "we also have to remain mindful of potentially negative long-term impact of over-correcting to the authorizations granted to the intelligence community."

Clapper added, "As Americans we face an unending array of threats to our way of life -- more than I've seen in my 50 years in intelligence. We need to sustain our ability to detect these threats. We welcome a balanced discussion about civil liberties but it's not an either-or situation. We need to continue to protect both."