[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 11 (Friday, January 20, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E73-E74]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO FRANK TAYLOR

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 20, 2017

  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an 
extraordinary public servant and a dedicated leader of the U.S. 
Intelligence Community (IC), Brigadier General (Retired) Francis Xavier 
Taylor, the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the 
Department of Homeland Security. Brig Gen Taylor came out of retirement 
in 2014 when the President nominated him to be the Under Secretary for 
Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) at the U.S. Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS). After nearly 40 years of honorable service to our 
nation, Under Secretary Taylor will retire again on Friday, January 20, 
2017.
  Under Secretary Taylor applied his knowledge and experience from his 
31 years in the United States Air Force, his service at the U.S. 
Department of State as an Ambassador for Counterterrorism and head of 
Diplomatic

[[Page E74]]

Security, and as Vice President of Security at General Electric. 
Applying his decades of experience and innovative thinking, Under 
Secretary Taylor rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
  Due to Under Secretary Taylor's leadership, I&A is much further along 
on its vision of driving information sharing and delivering 
intelligence and analysis to operators and decision-makers at all 
levels. One of Under Secretary Taylor's first actions at I&A was to 
guide the organization through a transformation. He removed internal 
I&A stovepipes and realigned the organization to ensure DHS-collected 
information now forms the basis of the majority of I&A production. 
Under Secretary Taylor also ordered that finished intelligence include 
State and local data.
  Under Secretary Taylor also worked tirelessly to mature and 
strengthen the Department's relationship with the state and local 
fusion centers and make information sharing a priority. In FY2016, 62 
percent of I&A's finished intelligence products were disseminated at 
the SECRET level or below to best serve those who protect our borders, 
critical infrastructure and communities.
  Under Secretary Taylor also took to heart the need to invest in the 
workforce and address extremely low employee morale. He spent a great 
deal of his tenure fine-tuning the organization, restructuring and 
rebalancing the workforce. He drastically reduced the ratio of 
supervisors to workers, reducing the amount of bloated management and 
replacing it with what he called ``seed corn''--young, junior people 
brought in to rejuvenate the organization and help develop a truly 
homeland-focused workforce.
  Our Nation owes this public servant a tremendous debt of gratitude. I 
wish to thank Under Secretary Taylor for his decades of exceptional 
service to our country and to wish him and his wife Connie the very 
best in the days and years ahead. Under Secretary Taylor can now enjoy 
his three grandchildren Ava, Aaron and Alexander, while taking in some 
more games under the Golden Dome at Notre Dame.