[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 175 (Tuesday, December 6, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S6755]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO JAMES R. CLAPPER, JR.

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to a true 
leader in every sense of the word. James R. Clapper, Jr., has had a 
defining impact on the U.S. Intelligence Community over his past half-
century of service. As of today, he has served 2,190 days as the 
Director of National Intelligence, DNI, which makes him the longest 
serving DNI, surpassing the combined time of all the Directors who 
served before him. Director Clapper has dedicated his life to the field 
of intelligence, and his contributions to the Nation are significant.
  Jim Clapper began his distinguished career as a rifleman in the U.S. 
Marine Corps Reserve, before becoming a commissioned officer in the 
U.S. Air Force in 1963. For 31 years, he served this Nation in various 
intelligence capacities, commanding signals intelligence operations 
both inside the United States and overseas. From 1991-1995, he served 
as the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, retiring with the 
rank of lieutenant general. After 6 years in the private sector, he 
took over the reins of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in 2001 
and spearheaded its transformation into today's National Geospatial-
Intelligence Agency.
  In 2007, President George W. Bush nominated General Clapper to serve 
as the Department of Defense's chief intelligence officer as the Under 
Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, where he served in both the Bush 
and Obama administrations. President Obama nominated Jim Clapper to 
serve as the Director of National Intelligence in 2010, only the fourth 
person to serve in that position since its creation in the Intelligence 
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
  As the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I was 
initially concerned that General Clapper's military background would be 
inappropriate to lead a mostly civilian intelligence enterprise. He 
made clear his intent to lead objectively and in the best interest of 
intelligence, and he did. He brought important stability to this 
position. During the next 6 years, he and I talked frequently and 
discussed many topics of critical importance to this Nation. We also 
discussed changes he sought to implement to improve the operations of 
the intelligence community. These changes had, and will continue to 
have, a positive and lasting impact on the intelligence community.
  During his tenure as DNI, Director Clapper focused relentlessly on 
intelligence integration, with a definitive focus on mission. He made 
important changes in how the Office of the Director of National 
Intelligence operated, including creating National Intelligence 
Managers, who oversaw the integration efforts across the intelligence 
community for specific mission areas. He put in place a planning, 
programming, budgeting, and evaluation system that set priorities, 
managed resources, and evaluated effectiveness of each taxpayer dollar 
being spent. He also began the ambitious goal of creating a common 
information technology infrastructure, known as the Intelligence 
Community Information Technology Enterprise, IC ITE, that will 
dramatically serve to improve intelligence integration. In addition, 
Director Clapper brought increased transparency to the intelligence 
community so that the public can have greater confidence in our 
intelligence capabilities and their appropriate use. His 
accomplishments are too many to enumerate here, but suffice it to say 
that his positive legacy within the intelligence community will 
continue for years to come.
  Part of Director Clapper's strength as the Director of National 
Intelligence has been his deep understanding of this Nation's 
intelligence activities and his extensive network of colleagues with 
whom he worked across the intelligence enterprise to help serve the 
users of intelligence, be they policymakers, warfighters, law 
enforcement, or national security officials. His commitment to 
advancing women and minorities in the field of intelligence is 
particularly noteworthy. He selected the first woman to lead a major 
intelligence agency, naming Betty Sapp to be Director of the National 
Reconnaissance Office. He also named Tricia Long to be Director of the 
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and recruited Stephanie 
O'Sullivan to be Principal Deputy Director for National Intelligence as 
his partner in creating and instituting change in the intelligence 
community.
  While Jim Clapper portrays a somewhat gruff exterior, his concern for 
his employees and quiet sensitivities are well known to the countless 
staff who have received hand-written notes from him extolling exemplary 
work, congratulations on births and weddings, or heartfelt condolences 
for the loss of a loved one.
  Today I want to congratulate him on his remarkable career and offer 
my gratitude for his decades of commitment and sacrifices to this 
Nation. I also thank his wife, Susan, who herself was an NSA employee, 
for her unfailing support over their 51-year marriage that allowed for 
the successes that Jim has achieved. The Nation owes this patriot a 
debt of gratitude.

                          ____________________