Senators question FBI progress on reforms since 9/11 attacks
Senior bureau official cites accomplishments, but says critical issues must still be addressed.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned whether the FBI has made enough progress on reforms since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks during a hearing Thursday.
The hearing was held to consider recommendations by the 9/11 commission, which has proposed sweeping reforms within the U.S. intelligence community. Commission members believe the FBI is heading in the right direction under Director Robert Mueller, but worry that reforms will not stick if there are leadership changes at the bureau.
"The commission's report strikes several familiar chords, showing we have much ground yet to cover before we can say the FBI is as effective as Americans need the bureau to be in preventing and combating terrorism," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., committee ranking member.
Leahy was particularly concerned about the FBI's foreign language translation program and information technology systems, noting that the bureau's Trilogy information modernization program is behind schedule and over budget.
Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, asked what FBI agents can do today that they could not do before the Sept. 11 attacks.
In response, Maureen Baginski, the FBI's executive assistant director of intelligence, said bureau agents and analysts have more resources and support today than before the attacks. However, she identified three areas that demand more resources.
She said FBI field offices need larger secure classified information facilities with more computers.
"All of the field offices have secure classified information facilities but they are very, very small areas. I sometimes joke that they look like closets," she said. "If we want to be part of this network in which the larger intelligence community operates, we need that connectivity."
She added: "As I expand the number of analysts that are out in the field, which is what I need to do, I'm going to need more space for them to access" classified spaces.
Baginski identified the completion of Trilogy as essential in order to allow agents to automatically enter information into common databases, such as the bureau's Investigative Data Warehouse.
The FBI also should have more investments in facilities and expertise to train agents, Baginski added.
"I have a training issue and it's not a small one, and it's going to require an investment in terms of facilities and in terms of expertise and in terms of time," she said.
The 9/11 commission recommended that a specialized national security workforce with intelligence expertise be established at the FBI. Baginski said the bureau supports the commission's recommendation, but new facilities are required in order to build a cadre of specialized agents.
"We have just overhauled our basic analyst training [with] seven core learning objectives," she added. "Those learning objectives are now being worked into the new agent's class … and the magic will be that we will have agents and analysts doing joint exercises together when they are in training. We need to offer that to our state and local partners."
Leahy and DeWine said they were also concerned if agents can do word searches across databases. Baginski said agents can now do such searches, including multiple word searches.
"If you are analyst, you can do a search against a finite body of information at the secret level on one network and at the Top Secret and higher [levels] on another network," she said. "You can ask questions of the data and the answers will be pushed to you."