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Skriven 2004-12-17 23:32:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0412171) for Fri, 2004 Dec 17
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President Signs Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 17, 2004

President Signs Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium
Washington, D.C.

President's Remarks
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9:59 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. In a few minutes, I will sign into law the
most dramatic reform of our nation's intelligence capabilities since
President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947.

Under this new law, our vast intelligence enterprise will become more
unified, coordinated and effective. It will enable us to better do our
duty, which is to protect the American people.

I want to thank the members of Congress who have worked hard on this
legislation. I particularly want to thank the leader of the Senate, Bill
Frist, Speaker of the House Denny Hastert, and their counterparts in both
bodies. I appreciate Senator Susan Collins from Maine and Senator Joe
Lieberman from Connecticut for steering this legislation through the United
States Senate. I appreciate Congressman Pete Hoekstra and Congresswoman
Jane Harman for their leadership on this important issue, as well. Welcome.
(Applause.)

I want to thank all the members of Congress who have joined us today for
your good work on this legislation. I appreciate the members of my
administration who helped, and that would be Director Porter Goss, Director
Bob Mueller, Condi Rice and Fran Townsend. I particularly want to thank the
9/11 Commission, ably led by Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton. I want to thank the
commission members who are here, as well. (Applause.)

I pay my respects, and offer our gratitude, to the family members of the
victims of September the 11th. Thank you for working hard on this issue.
Thank you for remembering your loved one.

Nearly six decades ago, our nation and our allies faced a new -- the new
world of the Cold War and the dangers of a new enemy. To defend the free
world from an armed empire bent on conquest, visionary leaders created new
institutions such as the NATO alliance. The NATO alliance was begun by
treaty in this very room. President Truman also implemented a sweeping
reorganization of the federal government. He established the Department of
Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security
Council.

America, in this new century, again faces new threats. Instead of massed
armies, we face stateless networks; we face killers who hide in our own
cities. We must confront deadly technologies. To inflict great harm on our
country, America's enemies need to be only right once. Our intelligence and
law enforcement professionals in our government must be right every single
time. Our government is adapting to confront and defeat these threats.
We're staying on the offensive against the enemy. We'll take the fight to
the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.

And here at home, we're strengthening our homeland defenses. We created the
Department of Homeland Security. We have made the prevention of terror
attacks the highest priority of the Department of Justice and the FBI.
We'll continue to work with Congress to make sure they've got the resources
necessary to do their jobs. We established the National Counterterrorism
Center where all the available intelligence on terrorist threats is brought
together in one place and where joint action against the terrorists is
planned.

We have strengthened the security of our nation's borders and ports of
entry and transportation systems. The bill I sign today continues the
essential reorganization of our government. Those charged with protecting
America must have the best possible intelligence information, and that
information must be closely integrated to form the clearest possible
picture of the threats to our country.

A key lesson of September the 11th, 2001 is that America's intelligence
agencies must work together as a single, unified enterprise. The
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 creates the
position of Director of National Intelligence, or DNI, to be appointed by
the President with the consent of the Senate.

The Director will lead a unified intelligence community and will serve as
the principle advisor to the President on intelligence matters. The DNI
will have the authority to order the collection of new intelligence to
ensure the sharing of information among agencies and to establish common
standards for the intelligence community's personnel. It will be the DNI's
responsibility to determine the annual budgets for all national
intelligence agencies and offices and to direct how these funds are spent.
These authorities vested in a single official who reports directly to me
will make all our intelligence efforts better coordinated, more efficient,
and more effective.

The Director of the CIA will report to the DNI. The CIA will retain its
core of responsibilities for collecting human intelligence, analyzing
intelligence from all sources, and supporting American interests abroad at
the direction of the President.

The new law will preserve the existing chain of command and leave all our
intelligence agencies, organizations, and offices in their current
departments. Our military commanders will continue to have quick access to
the intelligence they need to achieve victory on the battlefield. And the
law supports our efforts to ensure greater information sharing among
federal departments and agencies, and also with appropriate state and local
authorities.

The many reforms in this act have a single goal: to ensure that the people
in government responsible for defending America have the best possible
information to make the best possible decisions. The men and women of our
intelligence community give America their very best every day, and in
return we owe them our full support. As we continue to reform and
strengthen the intelligence community, we will do all that is necessary to
defend its people and the nation we serve.

I'm now pleased and honored to sign into law the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. (Applause.)

(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)
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