Mr.
Chairman and Members of the Committee, my name is George Tenet, and I am
honored that President Clinton has nominated me to be Deputy Director of
Central Intelligence. It is a special privilege to appear before this Committee
to discuss my qualifications for this office and to share with you my views
regarding the future of
For nearly a decade, I have
been involved in intelligence matters both in the United States Senate and at
the White House. Since January 1993 I have served at the National Security
Council as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and
Senior Director for Intelligence Programs. Prior to my service at the NSC, I
spent more than seven years on the staff of this Committee, most recently as
Staff Director from November 1988 through January 1993, and earlier as an arms
control specialist.
My professional experiences
in Congressional oversight and in the Executive Branch have provided strong
preparation for the position of Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.
Throughout my career, I believe I have addressed many of the difficult problems
facing the Intelligence Community. At the NSC, I coordinated Presidential
Decision Directives on "Intelligence Priorities" and "US
Counterintelligence Effectiveness," and managed the formulation and
oversight of covert action plans and initiatives. At the Senate Intelligence
Committee, I worked on initiatives to enhance human intelligence collection and
on comprehensive legislation to reorganize
Mr. Chairman, I believe my
background has given me an awareness of the importance of bipartisan
Congressional oversight and a grasp of the critical issues that must be
addressed to strengthen the performance of
Today, I would like to
outline for you the five principal objectives that will represent my highest
priorities if I am confirmed.
First, the Director and I will work
together to ensure that the Intelligence Community provides the President, his
senior civilian and military advisers, and the Congress unique, timely, and
objective intelligence that makes a difference in deliberations that affect our
nation's security. The Presidential Decision Directive "Intelligence
Priorities" calls for collection and analytic resources to focus on difficult
issues that require a strong intelligence effort. The message is clear. Rather
than doing more with less,
The Intelligence Community
has a special obligation to provide policymakers with information which is
otherwise unobtainable. Intelligence can and should be actionable. By providing
real secrets and insights that flow from them, good intelligence offers
policymakers, the military, and law enforcement officials new opportunities to
protect our national security interests.
Accurate, timely
intelligence protects the lives of the men and women in our armed forces. It
disrupts the transfer of dangerous weapons. It prevents terrorist atrocities.
It blocks illicit narcotics trade. It stops illegal commercial practices. It
brings pressure to bear on adversaries and helps to persuade our allies. And it
thwarts the plans of those who seek to undermine peace and stability around the
world. This is the type of intelligence that I believe the American people are
willing to pay for and that policymakers need.
Let me say unequivocally
that there is no room for either politics or partisanship in the way the
Intelligence Community performs its duties. The Director and I will insist that
intelligence products provide unvarnished facts and straightforward analytic
findings. We will candidly acknowledge what we don't know. Most important, all
of this will be done without regard to policy preferences.
Second, the Director and I will work
closely to oversee the reengineering of the Intelligence Community. Just as the
need for intelligence is indisputable, so is the need for reform and renewal.
We will undertake a careful review of the Intelligence Community's structure.
Our goal will be to consolidate functions and to identify savings that will
facilitate the innovation required to collect and disseminate unique
information quickly in our core mission areas. We must prove that we can make
tough budget decisions across disciplines that reward performance against high priority
targets.
The strength of a fully
integrated Intelligence Community is enormous. The Director and I will ensure
that resources are allocated on the basis of performance and efficiency.
Individual fiefdoms and parochialism undermine the efficacy and sap the energ y
of all source collection and analysis.
Third, a clandestine human intelligence
capability is indispensable to the success of
It is for this reason, I
believe, we must strengthen the major effort under way to revitalize the CIA's
Directorate of Operations. This effort must be based on the highest operational
and counterintelligence standards. It requires continued attention to the
quality of the individuals entering the clandestine service and how they are
trained, evaluated, challenged, and rewarded for their accomplishments and
expertise. We must review the composition and size of the service, its methods,
the diversity and capabilities of its officers, and how well it performs
against difficult targets.
This Committee's efforts in
the late 1980s allowed the Directorate to apply new and creative techniques to
operations in the post-Cold War environment. We must now challenge our civilian
and military clandestine services to implement a long-term plan based on the
highest standards of competence, accountability, tradecraft, and operational
security. We must accept the fact that the benefits from this effort will not
be immediate.
Fourth, no other issue carries more
importance for the Director or myself than counterintelligence. Espionage in
the ranks of the Intelligence Community or foreign manipulation of information
collected by
But more must be done.
Relying on the polygraph alone will not deter espionage. We need a strong cadre
of professionals who possess the analytic and investigatory skills to prevent
and detect security breaches. This group will have to assess the performance of
managers who must balance the need for aggressive operations with an equally
aggressive counterintelligence focus. Counter-intelligence must be a respected
and rewarded career. It must be embedded in collection, operations, and
analysis if it is to succeed.
Fifth, both the Director and I believe
that effective Congressional oversight is essential to the renewal of
These statutory
responsibilities should not be the sole basis of our dialogue. The Intelligence
Community must interact with the Oversight Committees on the basis of
bipartisanship, candor, and mutual trust. Experience makes it clear that, when
the principle of oversight is neglected or allowed to erode, the Intelligence
Community, the Congress, and, most important, the American people suffer.
In pursuing these five
objectives, I will promote a process of continuous improvement throughout the
Intelligence Community so that it can adapt quickly to new developments and
needs. Protecting the status quo and adhering to convention inhibit the
innovation, creativity, and dynamism that are essential to keep
Mr. Chairman and Members of
this Committee, I am determined to restore the morale of the employees of the
Intelligence Community and CIA in particular. I know from close association
with the Intelligence Community over the past decade that its work force is among
the most talented, dedicated, and hard working in the US Government. These
professionals want to be challenged and held to the highest standards of
performance and accountability.
My commitment to these
objectives is rooted in the conviction that a strong Intelligence Community is
critical to our nation's power and influence. In his opening statement to this
Committee, Director Deutch pointed out the formidable threats to our national
security. All of us know that the end of the Cold War has given birth to a new
and more complicated world full of problems. The complexity of these problems
makes the role of intelligence more vital than ever.
The intelligence business
is challenging, demanding, and, above all, vitally important. It is no
hyperbole to say that the well-being of this country rests on its success. I
have discussed my ideas and my vision of intelligence of the future with
Director Deutch. We share the same philosophy on what constitutes good
intelligence.
If confirmed, I will work
with the Director to insist on clarity of mission, priorities, and standards of
accountability at all levels in meeting our obligations to the President, the
Congress, and the American people. If confirmed, I will look forward to working
with you, and I expect to be held accountable for the statements and pledges I
have made here today.
Mr. Chairman, I would like
to thank you and the members of this Committee for the opportunity to appear
before you today.
I
am honored, Mr. Vice President, by the opportunity that you and the President
have given me to lead our country's Intelligence Community--particularly as
this year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Central
Intelligence Agency. As I assume this position, I haven't the slightest doubt
what you, the President, and the American people expect from me and the
exceptional men and women that I will lead. In pursuit of our mission, you must
know that first and foremost:
These are issues on which
we simply cannot afford to fail.
In short, Mr. Vice
President, we will meet these challenges head on with the highest standards of
personal integrity and professional performance. We can and will take the risks
necessary to protect our country, but we also pledge to never act recklessly.
We are accountable to you, the President, and to the American people for all
that we do.
A special part of the
privilege you have given me is the opportunity to lead the men and women of the
Intelligence Community. They are simply unmatched in their dedication, drive,
and devotion to duty. They bring not only their expertise to work, but a deep
conviction that national security is neither a nine to five job nor just a
career, but a public service of grave importance.
Working with them every day
has driven home for me a vital point: as important as sophisticated technology
is to our work, intelligence is primarily a human endeavor. And so, for me, our
people must always come first.
My goal for our people is a
simple one: That they should consistently be the nation's premier experts in
their field--whether they are engaged in analysis, operations, or scientific
and technical pursuits.
If we--your intelligence
team--tackle these challenges with energy, decisiveness, conviction, and
integrity--we will live up to the high expectations that you, the President,
and the American people rightly have for your intelligence service. We will be
the best intelligence service in the world. As Director of Central
Intelligence, I will aspire to nothing less.
Implicit in all that I have
said are four commitments that will guide me every day that I serve in this
office:
Finally, let me close on a
personal note by thanking a number of very special people, some who are here
today and some who are not.
Along the way--there are
hundred of colleagues, co-workers, and friends-who always made me look better
than I deserved.
Finally, I want to say a
few words about my family--because I have a great family.
So Mr. Vice President, I once again thank you, my friends, my family and the men and women of the Intelligence Community--you honor me by being here today. Thank you.