[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[June 10, 2005]
[Pages 965-969]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks on the PATRIOT Act in McLean, Virginia
June 10, 2005
Thanks for the warm welcome. It is really exciting to come and spend
time in this fine facility and to meet the men and women who work at the
National Counterterrorism Center. I just met with some who spend long
hours preparing threat assessments, and it was my honor to tell them how
much I appreciate their hard work and appreciate the daily briefing I
get every single morning.
I want to thank you all for taking on such demanding assignments and
important assignments. My message to the folks here is, thanks for being
on the frontline and protecting America during the war on terror. You
know, it's a different kind of war. It's a war that seems like there's
maybe no action taking place, that maybe the enemy is not active. You
know, I was concerned after September the 11th that the tendency would
be to forget the nature of the people with whom you deal on a daily
basis. But I understand that there is an enemy that still lurks, and you
know it as well.
And so on behalf of a grateful nation, I want to thank you for
working hard to protect America. I want to thank you for your
dedication. I want to thank you for your service and sacrifice.
The NCTC plays a key part in the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence. It's a crucial part of making sure that we can say to the
American people, we're collecting intelligence and information, and
we're sharing intelligence and information across jurisdictional lines
to better protect the people and do our most solemn duty, which is to
protect America.
And I want to thank Ambassador and Director John
Negroponte's leadership on this issue. I
want to thank him for his willingness to step forward to serve. And I
[[Page 966]]
appreciate his understanding of how important the NCTC is.
I also want to thank John Brennan, who
has been the Acting Director of the NCTC. I can remember first meeting
John--it probably seems like a decade ago for him--[laughter]--I think
it was actually a couple of years ago, when he first described what this
facility would be like. He laid out the vision for what would take place
here, and I want to thank John for his leadership, his dedication to the
effort. It must bring John great comfort, as well as those who have
worked with John, to see how this facility has evolved over time. This
is a magnificent blend of technology and human talent, all working
together to break down walls and barriers that had existed prior to
September the 11th, to better protect the people.
And today I'm pleased to announce the fact that upon John
Negroponte's recommendation, that we will
nominate Vice Admiral John Redd to be the
Director of the NCTC. He's a man of enormous experience. He has served
our country with distinction. He'll be a good boss. He'll be a person
that will be able to carry on the tradition of John Brennan.
I appreciate the Attorney General
traveling with me today. We're not only talking about intelligence
sharing; we're telling about--we're talking about how to act upon that
intelligence today. Attorney General Al Gonzales is doing a fine job, as
is the Director of the FBI, Bob Mueller.
I also appreciate Porter Goss, who is
running the CIA, for joining us today. I went out to the CIA the other
day, and I reminded the good folks who work there that CIA stands for
Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA is a vital part of making sure that
this country is safe and sound and a vital part of making sure that my
administration and myself get the type of information necessary to make
the decisions that we need to make to make the world a more peaceful
place.
I appreciate Fran Townsend, who
is my Homeland Security Adviser. Fran is constantly briefing me on
interagency issues and keeping me up to speed about the work you're
doing.
Today we're also joined by Federal prosecutors and law enforcement
officials who have helped bring terrorists to justice with the help of
the PATRIOT Act. I'll talk about them in a minute. Thank you all for
coming.
The purpose of the NCTC is to make sure our Government has the
information we need. It's an information-gathering organization. It is
all aimed--all the work here is aimed at keeping America safe. A lot of
Americans have never heard of the NCTC. One of the reasons I came by
was, hopefully it will help draw attention to the good work you do here,
so that the people of this country can be comforted in knowing that 24
hours a day there's some really fine people spending a lot of time doing
whatever they can to protect our fellow citizens.
September the 11th showed that protecting America requires that we
remove walls between agencies. Here at the NCTC, men and women from
different agencies, of different backgrounds, work side by side to share
information, to analyze information, to integrate information. See,
prior to the attack, it was--we kind of all went about our own merry
way. There was some interagency dialog but not a lot. And we learned a
lesson about having walls between our agencies, and we're tearing those
walls down. And here's a classic example of Government working--
functioning better because of people talking to each other.
I appreciate the fact that here you pool your expertise and your
computer systems, all aimed at shining the spotlight on enemies who
think they can hide in the shadows of the world. I appreciate the clear
picture that you present. See, by working together, you're able to bring
information to a central spot, and then present a clear picture to
decisionmakers.
[[Page 967]]
I also appreciate the fact that you're helping to ensure that
Federal, State, and local law enforcement have the information they need
to do their jobs. Thanks to your efforts, we're confronting the
terrorists every day. See, the strategy is, we'll defeat them before
they attack us; we'll face them overseas before we have to face them
here at home. And the best way to make sure we do so is with the best
possible intelligence.
One of the most important tools to combat terror is the PATRIOT Act.
Congress passed the PATRIOT Act with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
Over the past 3\1/2\ years, law enforcement and intelligence officers
have proved that the PATRIOT Act works. It's a good piece of
legislation. The PATRIOT Act has made a difference for those on the
frontline of taking the information you have gathered and using it to
protect the American people.
At the end of this year, 16 key provisions of the PATRIOT Act are
set to expire. In other words, the act that has worked, the act that has
delivered good results or given people the tools to deliver results, is
now set to expire. That doesn't make any sense to me, that if something
is working, why should it expire? We need to renew the PATRIOT Act. We
need to renew the PATRIOT Act because it has strengthened our national
security. And here are four ways it has strengthened our national
security.
First, it authorizes law enforcement and intelligence to share vital
information. Can you believe our system didn't allow parts of the FBI to
share information? For example, if the intelligence group didn't--had a
piece of information, they couldn't share it with the enforcement
people, the law enforcement people. That doesn't make any sense. And so
the PATRIOT Act enabled us to tear down walls.
Secondly, the PATRIOT Act allows law enforcement to use the same
tools against terrorists that they already use against criminals like
drug dealers and mob bosses. It seems to make sense to me. I know it
makes sense for the American people that if it's okay to use a certain
tool to track a drug lord, we ought to be able to use that same tool to
track a terrorist. And that's what the PATRIOT Act provided our law
enforcement with, the ability to react consistently.
Thirdly, the PATRIOT Act adopts the law to meet high-tech threats
like computer espionage and cyberterrorism. It was a smart thing to put
in the PATRIOT Act new provisions, provisions of law that said, ``Wait a
minute, the enemy can use the Internet; why shouldn't we be able to
counteract that activities--that activity by the enemy?''
And finally, the PATRIOT Act protects the privacy and civil
liberties of every American. That's what the American people have got to
understand. The PATRIOT Act conforms to our Constitution, that as we
fight this war on terror, we'll honor our Constitution. As we fight the
war on terror, we'll protect the civil liberties of our citizens.
Let me give you some examples of how Federal prosecutors and law
enforcement agents have used the PATRIOT Act to get results. Mike
Battle, the former U.S. Attorney for the
Western District of New York, is with us. Mike helped prosecute the
Lackawanna Six terror cell. See, there was a terror cell existing in the
United States of America. And Mike and law enforcement officials there,
in the summer of 2001, started investigating the Lackawanna Six. But
they had to set up two separate investigations, a criminal investigation
for drug crimes and a separate intelligence investigation for terror
activity. And agents from the two investigations did not discuss their
findings with each other.
Then Congress passed the PATRIOT Act, and the two sides started
sharing information. See, prior to the PATRIOT Act, parts of the same
FBI office couldn't discuss a case with each other. And as a result of
information sharing, the agents discovered that the suspects had
attended an Al
[[Page 968]]
Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. The prosecutor used the information
to build a convincing case, and today, all six of the Lackawanna folks
are in Federal prison. In other words, the PATRIOT Act worked. We've got
hard-working people in the field, and so we gave the people tools--
simple tools--that said, ``Here, this will enable you to better do your
job.'' You can't ask people on the frontline of the war on terror to
protect the American people and then not give them the tools necessary
to do so.
Carol Lam is with us. She's the U.S.
Attorney from the Southern District of California. The information-
sharing provisions in the PATRIOT Act helped Carol and her team connect
the dots in an Al Qaida drugs-for-weapons plot. They put together such a
strong case that two defendants admitted their plans to sell drugs for
Stinger missiles and then sell those missiles to the Taliban. They're
now in prison, thanks to Carol's good work and thanks to the ability for
prosecutors and law enforcement to use the tools of the PATRIOT Act to
better protect the American people.
Rob Spencer is the U.S.--Assistant
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He worked with Paul
McNulty and used information obtained
through the PATRIOT Act to lock up 10 men from the Virginia Jihad
network. Some of those terrorists trained at camps in Pakistan and hoped
to attack American troops in Afghanistan. Information from the
investigation has also helped lead to the prosecutions of terror
suspects in Australia and Great Britain.
I mean, not only are we sharing information here at home; we're
sharing information with our allies, with our coalition partners. See,
terrorists are willing to strike at anybody who loves freedom, and our
job is to protect free societies--the freest of all societies here at
home and the free societies amongst our coalition partners. And the
PATRIOT Act has helped do just that.
Kelly Moore is the Assistant U.S.
Attorney of the Eastern District of New York. Kelly used information-
sharing provisions in the PATRIOT Act to build a case against a
terrorist bankroller who had boasted about personally handing $20
million to Usama bin Laden. They also busted
another money raiser who planned to fund Al Qaida and Hamas. They were
extradited to Germany, and they were convicted of the charges in March
of this year.
This is another example of the use of the PATRIOT Act to protect our
country. I mean, listen, we got people who want to support these killers
with their money. And part of securing the country is to cut off the
flow of money, is to chase the money. By chasing the money, we can find
facilitators. So these good folks use the PATRIOT Act to help find the
money, and by finding the money, we helped remove a threat to the United
States of America.
John Kavanaugh, FBI Special Agent in
Florida--John used the PATRIOT Act to help prosecutors pursue a case
against three alleged terror supporters for funding murders and
kidnappings abroad. Two of them are now in Federal custody, and the
other is serving time overseas for terrorist activity.
Robert Schumaker, FBI Supervisory
Special Agent from Illinois--Robert led the investigation that helped
close down a phony charity in Illinois that was channeling money to Al
Qaida. Robert's efforts, combined with the information-sharing
authorities in the PATRIOT Act, allowed prosecutors to build a case
against a director of that sham
organization.
We're not only finding people and bringing them to justice; we're
shutting down their sources for money. We're taking away their
lifeblood, which is money. Listen, we're a free society, and people come
and take advantage of our freedom. And so what we've got to do is use
information and intelligence to deny them the capacity to funnel money,
in this case to organizations that want to do harm to the United States
and our friends and allies.
[[Page 969]]
I want you to know that the information sharing as a result of the
PATRIOT Act allowed the
prosecutors in this case to build a case against the director, and he's now in prison. We're patient here in
America. We're slowly but surely dismantling an organization that wants
to do us harm. It doesn't matter how long it takes; we will stay on the
offense. We spend a lot of time here in America protecting our borders
and ports and airports, but the best way to secure the country is to
stay on the offense, is to go find them before they can hurt us. And
that's exactly what we're doing.
And the PATRIOT Act has helped us accomplish that objective. The
PATRIOT Act has helped save American lives, and it's protected American
liberty. For the sake of our national security, the United States
Congress needs to renew all the provisions of the PATRIOT Act, and this
time, Congress needs to make those provisions permanent.
I want to thank you for letting me come by. I appreciate the hard
work you do. May God bless you all and your families, and may God
continue to bless our country. Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 10:15 a.m. at the National Counterterrorism
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Paul McNulty, U.S. District
Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Usama bin Laden,
leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization.