On Wednesday, Robert S. Mueller, Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. His testimony addressed terrorism, cyber crime, national security, organized crime and weapons of mass destruction.
Mueller noted that since 9/11, the FBI has shifted its focus to being an intelligence-led, threat-focused organization, guided by clear operational strategies.
"The FBI is focused on predicting and preventing the threats we face while engaging the communities we serve. This shift has led to a greater reliance on technology, collaboration with new partners, and human capital, requiring additional resources," Mueller said.
The FBI is a full member of the U.S. intelligence community and serves as a critical and singular link between the intelligence and law enforcement communities in the United States, the FBI Director noted.
"Our adversaries are evolving and using globalization to enhance their reach and effectiveness, creating new challenges in our efforts to counter their impact," said Mueller.
Director Mueller noted that:
- In the past year, the United States has been the target of terrorist plots from three main sources: al Qaeda, al Qaeda's affiliates, and homegrown extremists. Homegrown extremists are a growing concern and priority of the FBI, as evidenced by the number of recent disruptions and arrests.
- The asymmetric intelligence threat presented by certain foreign governments endures as the damage from compromised sensitive information and financial losses from economic espionage and criminal activity remain significant.
- Technological advancements and the Internet's expansion will continue to empower malicious cyber actors to harm U.S. national security through criminal and intelligence activities. We must maintain our ability to keep pace with this rapidly developing technology.
- The FBI's efforts prosecuting financial crimes—including billion-dollar corporate and mortgage frauds, massive Ponzi schemes, and sophisticated insider trading activities—remain essential to protect investors and the financial system, as well as homeowners and, ultimately, taxpayers. There also continue to be insidious health care scams that endanger patients and fleece government health care programs of billions. Despite strong enforcement, both public corruption and violent gang crimes continue to endanger our communities.
These examples underscore the complexity and breadth of the FBI's mission to protect the nation in a post-9/11 world, noted the FBI chief.
The FBI's fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget request includes a total of $8.1 billion in direct budget authority, including 33,469 permanent positions (12,993 special agents, 2,989 intelligence analysts, and 17,487 professional staff). This funding, which consists of $8.0 billion in salaries and expenses and $81.0 million in construction, is critical to continue our progress acquiring the intelligence and investigative capabilities required to counter current and emerging national security and criminal threats.
Consistent with the Bureau's transformation to a threat-informed and intelligence-driven agency, the FY 2012 budget request was formulated based upon our understanding of the major national security and criminal threats that the FBI must work to prevent, disrupt, and deter.
"We then identified the gaps and areas which required additional resources. As a result of this integrated process, the FY 2012 budget proposes $131.5 million for new or expanded initiatives and 181 new positions, including 81 special agents, three intelligence analysts, and 97 professional staff. These additional resources will allow the FBI to improve its capacity to address threats in the priority areas of terrorism, computer intrusions, weapons of mass destruction, foreign counterintelligence, and violent crime," he stated.
Then Mueller summarized for the panel of Congressmen the key national security threats and crime problems that the funding enables the FBI to address.
National Security Threats
Terrorism
"The FBI is fully engaged in the worldwide effort to counter terrorism. We have taken that fight to our adversaries' own sanctuaries in the far corners of the world—Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Europe, Asia, and Africa. We have also worked to uncover terror cells and supporters within the United States, as well as to disrupt terrorists' financial, communications, and operational lifelines at home and abroad," Mueller stated.
"Al Qaeda remains our primary concern. Al Qaeda's intent to conduct high-profile attacks inside the United States is unwavering. While the overall structure of the group has diminished, its power to influence individuals and affiliates around the world has not. Today, we still confront the prospect of a large-scale attack by al Qaeda, but the growing threat from al Qaeda affiliates, as demonstrated in the attempted Christmas Day bombing and the failed Times Square bombing, is unprecedented. Al Qaeda and its affiliates may also attempt smaller attacks that require less planning and fewer operational steps—attacks that may be more difficult to detect and prevent," he said.
Mueller also pointed to threats from homegrown terrorists as being a growing concern for the FBI. These individuals are harder to detect, easily able to connect with other extremists, and — in some instances—highly capable operationally. There is no typical profile of a homegrown terrorist; their experiences and motivating factors vary widely.
Mueller also noted that the added problem of radicalization makes these [terrorist] threats more dangerous. No single factor explains why radicalization here at home may be more pronounced than in the past. American extremists appear to be attracted to wars in foreign countries, as we have seen a number of Americans travel overseas to train and fight with extremist groups.
"These individuals may be increasingly disenchanted with living in the United States, or angry about U.S. and Western foreign policy. The increase and availability of extremist propaganda in English can exacerbate the problem," said Mueller.
The Internet has also become a key platform for spreading extremist propaganda. It has been used as a tool for terrorist recruiting, training, and planning and as a means of social networking for like-minded extremists. Ten years ago, in the absence of the Internet, extremists would have operated in relative isolation, unlike today.
"In short, we have seen an increase in the sources of terrorism, an evolution in terrorist tactics and means of communication, and a wider array of terrorist targets here at home. All of this makes our mission that much more difficult and requires continued support," he stated.
The FY 2012 budget request includes 63 positions (34 special agents) and $40.9 million to address these national security threats, including funding for surveillance resources to combat international terrorism and foreign intelligence threats, as well as funding for the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG), Terrorist Screening Center operations, and increased information analysis and sharing capabilities.
Intelligence
Since 9/11, the FBI has "dramatically shifted our intelligence program and capabilities" to address emerging threats. "We stood up the National Security Branch, created a Directorate of Intelligence, integrated our intelligence program with other agencies in the intelligence community, hired hundreds of intelligence analysts and linguists, and created Field Intelligence Groups in each of our 56 field offices, Mueller said.
"Today, we are collecting intelligence to better understand all threats—those we know about and those that have not yet materialized. We recognize that we must continue to refine our intelligence capabilities to stay ahead of these changing threats. We must function as a threat-driven, intelligence-led organization. The FBI recently restructured its Field Intelligence Groups, where each group now has clearly defined requirements for intelligence collection, use, and production. With this new structure, each office can better identify, assess, and attack emerging threats," said Director Mueller.
Cyber
A cyber attack's impact could be similar to that of a well-placed bomb. To date, terrorists have not used the Internet to launch a full-scale cyber attack, but they have executed numerous denial-of-service attacks and defaced numerous web sites, according to FBI statistics.
Al Qaeda's online presence has become almost as potent as its physical presence. Extremists are not limiting their use of the Internet to recruitment or radicalization; they are using it to incite terrorism. Of course, the Internet is not only used to plan and execute attacks; it is also a target itself. Osama bin Laden long ago identified cyberspace as a means to damage both our economy and our morale—and countless extremists have taken this to heart, Mueller pointed out.
"The FBI, with our partners in the intelligence community, believe the cyber terrorism threat is real and is rapidly expanding. Terrorists have shown a clear interest in pursuing hacking skills. And they will either train their own recruits or hire outsiders, with an eye toward coupling physical attacks with cyber attacks," he said.
"The FBI pursues cyber threats from start to finish. We have cyber squads in each of our 56 field offices around the country, with more than 1,000 specially trained agents, analysts, and digital forensic examiners. Together, they run complex undercover operations and examine digital evidence. They share information with our law enforcement and intelligence partners. And they teach their counterparts—both at home and abroad—how best to investigate cyber threats," he added.
Mueller then described the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, stating that it includes 18 law enforcement and intelligence agencies, working side by side to identify key players and schemes.
This task force plays an important role in the administration's Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. Its goal is to predict and prevent that which is on the horizon, and then attribute and pursue the enterprises behind these attacks. The task force operates through Threat Focus Cells—smaller groups of agents, officers, and analysts from different agencies, focused on particular threats.
Together with law enforcement, the intelligence community, and our international and private sector partners, we are making progress, but there is significantly more to do. The FY 2012 budget request includes 42 positions (14 special agents) and $18.6 million to enhance the FBI's investigatory capabilities and protect critical technology network infrastructure from malicious cyber intrusions as well as improve analysis of digital evidence.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
The FBI carries responsibility for responding to certain weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threats in the United States, and the WMD Directorate carries out that critical charge. The WMD Directorate was established to be a unique combination of law enforcement authorities, intelligence analysis capabilities, and technical subject matter expertise that exists nowhere else in the U.S. government. The creation of the directorate enabled the FBI to focus its WMD preparedness, prevention, and response capabilities in a single, focused organization rather than through decentralized responsibilities across divisions.
"Globalization makes it easier for terrorists, other groups, and lone actors to gain access to and transfer WMD materials, knowledge, and technology throughout the world. As noted in the WMD Commission's report, those intent on using WMDs have been active, and, as such, the margin of safety is shrinking, not growing," Mueller warned.
The FBI must be poised to handle any WMD event, hoax or real. Therefore, the FY 2012 budget request includes 13 positions (including six special agent bomb technicians) and $40.0 million to acquire the necessary aircraft required to respond to a WMD incident and render a device safe, according to an FBI report.
Criminal Threats
"The FBI faces many criminal threats, from white-collar crime to organized crime to violent crime and gangs to the extreme violence along the Southwest border. While all of these threats remain, I would like to take the opportunity to focus on two of these threats—investigations along the Southwest border and violent crime occurring in Indian Country," Mueller said.
Southwest Border
During Director Mueller's testimony, a great deal of attention was paid to the troublesome U.S.-Mexico border.
Mueller noted that the U.S. border with Mexico extends nearly 2,000 miles, from San Diego, California to Brownsville, Texas. At too many points along the way, drug cartels transport kilos of cocaine and marijuana, gangs kidnap and murder innocent civilians, traffickers smuggle human cargo, and corrupt public officials line their pockets by looking the other way. Any one of these offenses represents a challenge to law enforcement. Taken together, they constitute a threat not only to the safety of our border communities, but to the security of the entire country.
The FBI director described the severity of this problem by highlighting the following statistics:
- Between $18 billion and $39 billion flows annually from the United States across the Southwest border to enrich the Mexican drug cartels.
- There were 2,600 drug-related murders in Juarez, Mexico in 2009.
- There have been over 28,000 drug-related murders in all of Mexico since 2006.
- Approximately 93 percent of all South American cocaine moves through Mexico on its way to the United States.
- 701,000 kilograms of marijuana were seized during the first five months of 2010 in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.
- There were 6,154 individual seizures of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines during the first five months of 2010 in the Southwest border states.
"The FBI has 13 Border Corruption Task Forces, but to address security along the Southwest border, we have developed an intelligence-led, cross-programmatic strategy to penetrate, disrupt, and dismantle the most dangerous organizations and individuals. This strategy begins with the deployment of hybrid squads in hotspot locations," Mueller said.
The primary goal of the hybrid squad model is to bring expertise from multiple criminal programs into these dynamic, multi-faceted threats and then target, disrupt, and dismantle these organizations. Hybrid squads consist of multi-disciplinary teams of special agents, intelligence analysts, staff operations specialists, and other professionals.
"The agent composition on the squads provides different backgrounds and functional expertise, ranging from violent gangs, public corruption, and violent crimes, he said.
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