[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 43 (Monday, November 3, 2008)]
[Pages 1389-1391]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Graduation Ceremony at the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
Academy in Quantico, Virginia

October 30, 2008

    Thank you. Mr. Director, thank you for your kind introduction, and 
thank you for your leadership. Proud that you invited your wife, Ann, 
here to be with us. I thank the Attorney General for joining us today. 
Members of the FBI Academy staff, distinguished guests, family and 
friends, and most importantly, members of the graduating class: Thanks 
for having me.
    I am so pleased to be back to the FBI Academy and to share with you 
this special day. When you walk across the stage, you will receive your 
badge and your credentials. You'll become special agents of the FBI. You 
will take your place on the frontlines on the war on terror. I thank you 
for stepping forward to serve your country during this important time. 
And on behalf of all Americans, I congratulate the class of 08-14.
    This academy has prepared you for the privileges and 
responsibilities of carrying the badge. Over the past 20 weeks, you have 
passed rigorous academic and physical requirements. You have spent hours 
practicing your aim on the firing range, combing the streets of Hogan's 
Alley, and navigating the Academy's ``gerbil tubes.'' [Laughter] As part 
of your training, you were all forced to endure the sting of pepper 
spray, which you learned wasn't half as bad as the cafeteria food. 
[Laughter]
    To reach this day of accomplishment, you have all depended on the 
wisdom and advice of your instructors. They took a diverse group that 
includes combat veterans, police officers, firefighters, lawyers, 
language experts, and computer specialists. And they turned you into an 
impressive class of FBI special agents. Your instructors are proud of 
your accomplishments, and I know you are grateful for their leadership.
    To reach this day of accomplishment, you depended on the support of 
your loved ones. While you were away training for this academy, some of 
them were really sweating out the training for you. [Laughter] And Rick 
mentioned a lot of you were packing bags. I'm thankful you didn't 
mention Crawford, Texas. [Laughter] And so are you. [Laughter]
    But the point is, America owes your families a great debt. And we 
thank you for standing by your side--thank them for standing by your 
side during this moment of training and the service you'll be rendering 
to our country. We welcome the families here today.
    Members of this class join the FBI during a momentous time in our 
Nation's history. Earlier this summer, the FBI celebrated its 100th 
anniversary. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the official 
ceremony. So I asked the Attorney General to speak in my place. To be 
honest, I was somewhat concerned that he might not live up to my high 
standards of oratory. [Laughter] He told me I had nothing to worry 
about. [Laughter]
    The Bureau has come a long way since its founding. Over the past 
century, the FBI has grown from a small team of 34 investigators to a 
powerful force of more than 30,000 agents and analysts and support 
professionals serving around the world. The FBI has pushed the 
boundaries of forensic science, from mastering the art of fingerprints 
to pioneering the use of DNA evidence. The FBI has inspired generations 
of children to dream of joining the force. [Laughter] Sounds like I 
inspired one or two myself. [Laughter]
    In every era, the FBI has risen to meet new challenges. When 
mobsters brought crime and chaos to America's cities during the 1920s 
and '30s, the G-Men of the FBI brought them to justice. When America 
entered the Second World War, the FBI stopped Axis agents from carrying 
out attacks on our homeland. During the cold war, the FBI worked long 
hours to protect America from Soviet spies. In all this work, the FBI 
has gained an incredible record of achievement and has earned the 
admiration of the entire world. America honors all the fine men and 
women who have served in the ranks before you.
    As you go forth from this Academy, you're going to write a new 
chapter in the FBI's storied history. In the years ahead, your 
assignments will be as diverse as the FBI's mission: from dismantling 
organized criminal networks, to pulling the plug on online predators, to 
making white-collar criminals pay

[[Page 1390]]

for defrauding hard-working Americans. And just as your predecessors 
adapted to meet the challenges of the past century, there's no doubt in 
my mind, you'll respond with courage to confront the emerging dangers of 
this new century.
    Those dangers became clear on September the 11th, 2001. On that day, 
19 terrorists brought death and destruction to our shores. We became a 
nation at war against violent extremists. And we must not rest until 
that war is won.
    More than 7 years have passed without another attack on our soil. 
And this is not an accident. Since 9/11, we have gone on the offense 
against the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at 
home. We stand with young democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq and beyond 
as they seek to replace the hateful ideology of the extremists with a 
hopeful alternative of liberty.
    Here at home, we've transformed our national security institutions 
and have given our intelligence and law enforcement professionals the 
tools and the resources they need to do their job, and that is to 
protect the American people. We formed a new Department of Homeland 
Security. We created a new Director for National Intelligence. We 
established a program at the Central Intelligence Agency to interrogate 
key terrorist leaders captured in the war on terror. We worked with 
Congress to pass legislation that allows our intelligence professionals 
to quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications while 
protecting the civil liberties of our citizens. If Al Qaida is making a 
phone call into the United States, we need to know why and to whom 
they're calling in order to protect the American citizens.
    The FBI has played a vital role in doing the most important job that 
Government has, and that is to secure the American people from harm. 
Since 9/11, the Bureau has worked with our partners around the world to 
disrupt planned terrorist attacks. Most Americans will never know the 
full stories of how these attacks were stopped and how many lives were 
saved. But we know this: The men and women of the FBI are working 
tirelessly to keep our Nation safe, and they have the thanks of the 
American people.
    The FBI's leadership in the war on terror has required a dramatic 
change of mission. Before 9/11, terrorism was viewed primarily as a 
criminal matter. The FBI focused more on indicting terrorists after an 
attack than on stopping the attack in the first place. For example, 
after the terrorists targeted the World Trade Center in 1993, FBI agents 
succeeded in tracking down several of the killers. They obtained 
indictments against them, and they put them behind bars. And that was 
good work. But 8 years later, Al Qaida returned to finish the job.
    Immediately after 9/11, the FBI made preventing terrorism its top 
priority. The FBI you join today is focused on collecting and analyzing 
intelligence, so we can figure out what the terrorists are planning 
before it is too late. Over the past 7 years, we have more than doubled 
the number of intelligence analysts and translators on the force. We've 
enacted the PATRIOT Act to ensure FBI analysts and investigators have 
the information they need to protect our Nation. We created the FBI's 
new National Security Branch, bringing together divisions responsible 
for counterterrorism and intelligence and counterespionage.
    The FBI you join today is working more closely with partners at all 
levels of government. At the local level, we've increased the number of 
FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces from 35 to more than 100. These task 
forces bring together Federal and local law enforcement agents. They 
have helped break up terror cells in places like Portland, Oregon; 
Buffalo, New York; and northern Virginia.
    At the national level, we created the National Counterterrorism 
Center, where the FBI is working side by side with the CIA, the Homeland 
Security Department, and other Federal agencies to track terrorist 
threats and prevent new attacks. We created the Terrorism Screening 
Center to consolidate watch lists from different agencies into one 
master list.
    At the international level, we've deployed the FBI to foreign 
countries to help track down the terrorists. Since September the 11th, 
the FBI has opened 16 new offices overseas. Two of them are in Kabul and 
Baghdad, where hundreds of FBI agents are

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serving alongside our brave men and women in uniform.
    The FBI can be proud of all these accomplishments. These changes 
were difficult, and they were necessary. We've transformed an agency 
founded a century ago to meet the challenges of the 21st century. And 
thanks to the vision and determination of the FBI, America is safer 
today than we were on September the 11th, 2001.
    In the midst of this rapid change, we can be confident that one 
thing will never change, and that is the character and courage of those 
who carry the badge. We see this character and courage in the story of 
an agent named Leonard Hatton. A bomb specialist for the FBI, Lenny had 
investigated terrorist attacks around the world. So when he saw smoke 
rising from the World Trade Center on September the 11th, 2001, he 
immediately understood the danger. With complete disregard for his own 
life, he ran to the scene to help others escape. And when the towers 
came crashing down, Lenny died beneath them. Earlier that same morning, 
Lenny had told his wife, ``Just another regular day at work.'' Well, for 
a man like Lenny Hatton, who always put others before himself, it was 
another day at work. We must always honor the memory of this good and 
faithful servant, and we vow that those who have given their lives in 
the war on terror shall never have died in vain.
    As new special agents, your charge to keep is to carry out this 
mission. I ask you to defend the values of fidelity, bravery, and 
integrity that you have learned here at this Academy. I ask you to carry 
out your duty to protect the lives and liberties of the American people. 
If you follow these principles, your careers will take you far, this 
agency will uphold its solemn responsibility, and America's security 
will be in good hands.
    I want to thank you for sharing your graduation with me. I'm 
inspired by your examples of service. I wish you all the best in the 
future. May God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:14 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller; and FBI special agent graduate Richard 
Brooks, recipient of the Director's Leadership Award.