[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 23 (Monday, June 13, 2005)]
[Pages 969-973]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
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
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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 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.
I also appreciate the fact that you're helping to ensure that
Federal, State, and local
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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 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.
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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.
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
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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 network.