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 Home > News & Policies > November 2004

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 23, 2004

Memorandum for the Attorney General

SUBJECT: Further Strengthening Federal Bureau of

Investigation Capabilities The Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States recommended:

A specialized and integrated national security workforce should be established at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) consisting of agents, analysts, linguists, and sur-veillance specialists who are recruited, trained, rewarded, and retained to ensure the development of an institutional culture imbued with a deep expertise in intelligence and national security.

I approve and direct you to implement the recommendation, recognizing that significant progress has already been made in strengthening the FBI's capabilities, especially with respect to the FBI's intelligence organization, information sharing, personnel development, and recruiting.

To build upon this foundation, and to strengthen further the FBI's ability to prevent, preempt, and disrupt terrorist threats to and attacks against the United States, I direct you to implement within the FBI measures to:

(1) Continue to improve the FBI's ability to collect, process, analyze, and disseminate to appropriate officials in the executive branch, including appropriate officials within the Intelligence Community, information relevant to national security and homeland security;

(2) Ensure full and seamless coordination and cooperation between the FBI and all other elements of the Intelligence Community, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center; and

(3) Ensure that the activities described in subparagraphs (1) and (2) of this paragraph are performed in a manner consistent with our national intelligence priorities and constitutional protections.

The measures directed in the preceding paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, measures to:

(1) Ensure that the Director of the FBI (Director), not later than 90 days from the date of this memorandum, allocates sufficient resources and authority to the new FBI Intelligence Directorate to perform its assigned mission. The Intelligence Directorate shall have responsibility for all components and functions of the FBI judged by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of Central Intelligence, to be necessary for the performance of its mission, including development of the intelligence cadre, field intelligence operations oversight, human source development and management, the FBI's collection against nationally determined intelli-gence requirements, information sharing and dissemination policy, language services, strategic analysis, and program and budget management;

(2) Within resources available to the Department, create within the FBI, not later than 90 days from the date of this memorandum, specialized, integrated intelligence cadre (including special agents, analysts, linguists, and surveillance specialists), and implement a separate career track program permitting employees within the intelligence cadre to pursue their entire career, including promotion to the most senior positions in the FBI, within this cadre. This effort shall include the establishment, not later than 90 days from the date of this directive, of specific requirements for the following: training; career development; certification, recruiting, hiring, and selection; integration of the cadre into the FBI's field intelligence groups and headquarters divisions; and senior-level field and headquarters management. These requirements shall be fully consistent with the standards defined in Executive Order 13355 of August 27, 2004, entitled "Strengthened Management of the Intelligence Community;"

(3) Recommend, as part of the Fiscal Year 2006 budget development process, the most appropriate methods for aligning the FBI's budget structure according to its four main programs: intelligence, counterterrorism and counterintelligence, criminal, and criminal justice services;

(4) Recommend, as part of the Fiscal Year 2006 budget development process, the appropriate funding levels for each program to ensure that the FBI is able to:

  • (a) Carry out its overriding priority to prevent, preempt, and disrupt terrorist threats to and attacks against our homeland, our people, our allies, and our interests around the globe;
  • (b) Collect, process, share, and disseminate, to the greatest extent permitted by applicable law, to the President, the Vice President in the performance of Executive functions, and other officials in the executive branch, all "terrorism information," as defined in Executive Order 13356 of August 27, 2004, entitled "Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism Information to Protect Americans," and other infor-mation necessary to safeguard our people and advance our national security and homeland security interests; and
  • (c) Facilitate the above functions by increasing the availability of secure facilities to allow for the expanded use of secure systems for the storage and exchange of classified materials;

(5) Recommend, if necessary, not later than 60 days from the date of this memorandum, any amendments to statutes, executive orders, or presidential directives required to provide the personnel, procurement, information sharing, or other authorities necessary for the FBI to meet its national security responsibilities;

(6) Ensure that, in addition to creating a separate intelligence career track, the FBI creates an intelligence officer certification program and requires such certification for advancement to senior FBI operational management positions. This certification program shall include requirements for applicable skills, training courses, assignments to other intelligence, national security, or homeland security components of the executive branch, and shall be fully consistent with the standards defined in Executive Order 13355;

(7) Provide to me, not later than 90 days from the date of this memorandum through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, a comprehensive plan with performance measures, including timelines for achievement of specific, measurable progress, in each of the following areas:

  • (a) Analysis (including standards for the recruitment, hiring, training, and performance of FBI analysts);
  • (b) Products (including product standards, standards for measuring the responsiveness of those products to nationally determined priorities, measures of the percentage of products written to the lowest possible classification level and the percentage transmitted and posted using secure systems, measures of the effectiveness of products in meeting the needs of State and local governments, as appropriate, and measures of customer satisfaction);
  • (c) Sources (including standards for asset validation, asset contributions to filling intelligence gaps, and new source development, with particular emphasis on human sources);
  • (d) Field intelligence operations (including standards for assessing staffing and infrastructure, intelligence production management processes, and the number of field intelligence group supervisors certified as Intelligence Officers); and
  • (e) Contribution of the FBI's intelligence products to the intelligence and national security information made available to the President, the Vice President in the performance of Executive functions, and other officials in the executive branch, including the degree to which each FBI Field Office is collecting against, and providing information responsive to, national requirements.

A copy of this plan will be provided to the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Commission will advise me on the adequacy of the plan, particularly with respect to any matters concerning countering the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction;

(8) Implement, not later than 90 days from the date of this memorandum, a program to ensure that the FBI's recruitment and training program for agents and analysts enhances the FBI's ability to target and attract individuals with educational and professional backgrounds in intelligence, international relations, language, technology, and relevant skills;

(9) Report to me, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, on the actions and investments necessary to ensure that the architecture supporting FBI information systems is consistent with broader information architecture, and with other initiatives as I direct to facilitate information sharing across Federal, State, and local government agencies, and the private sector; and

(10) Beginning in June 2005, I direct you to report to me at least semi-annually through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget on the progress made implementing this memorandum and other relevant milestones in development of the FBI's intelligence program, including milestones related to analysis and the analyst workforce, intelligence production, intelligence sources, intelligence certification, and FBI field intelligence operations.

This memorandum shall be implemented subject to the availability of appropriations and in a manner consistent with applicable law, including the Constitution and laws protecting the freedom and information privacy of Americans.

GEORGE W. BUSH

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