[Congressional Record: July 6, 2011 (Senate)]
[Page S4387-S4388]
TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL E. LEITER
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Michael
Leiter, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and a good
friend of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. This is Mike's
last week and I want to thank him for his service and wish him the very
best in the next steps in his career.
Director Leiter has been at the National Counterterrorism Center, or
NCTC, for most of its existence. He was the principal deputy director
from February 2007 to November of that year when he became the acting
director. President Bush nominated him to be the Director on March 31,
2008, and he was confirmed by the Senate on June 10, 2008.
Mike has served in both the Bush and Obama administrations which
speaks to his bipartisan and professional approach to the Nation's
security, and the support that he has earned from the Congress and
within the executive branch.
His leadership at the NCTC has brought stability and continuity to
our Nation's counterterrorism efforts, and he should take pride in the
fact that under his tenure, there have been no successful attacks
against the United States homeland by foreign terrorists. In this
threat environment, that is an impressive accomplishment indeed.
As is often the nature of the intelligence business, much of the
successes of the National Counterterrorism Center go unrecognized.
Terrorists plotting and carrying out attacks are captured through good
intelligence and law enforcement work, and through strong cooperation
with allies and partners around the world. Often, terrorist plots fail
to proceed because of the barriers to recruit, travel, raise funds, get
training, or gain access to destructive materials that have been
erected through the efforts of the United States and other nations.
Even in counterterrorism victories that become known, such as the
cases of Najibullah Zazi in the United States or the identification of
Usama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, the National Counterterrorism
Center's important--sometimes absolutely critical role--is often not
well known.
So I am pleased today to be able to recognize Mike Leiter for his
work in keeping our Nation safe for the past 4\1/2\ years.
As a member, and now as chair of the Intelligence Committee, I have
come to rely on Mike's analysis and judgment. He has been willing to
admit that at times our counterterrorism policies or practices haven't
been what they should be.
He has appeared regularly before the committee and has been very
accessible for the committee's staff as well. In addition to the
regularly scheduled meetings we hold, I have received secure calls from
Mike often, apprising me on new threats and the status of
investigations. He is, without fail, available to provide updates and
assessments, and I appreciate the importance he has placed on keeping
the committee, and me personally, fully informed.
Director Leiter has also worked tirelessly to achieve the goals set
out for the National Counterterrorism Center in the Intelligence Reform
and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The NCTC was established to bring
together information and officers from across the intelligence
community and from other parts of the government involved in the
spectrum of counterterrorism, including counter-radicalization,
detection, and prevention of attacks.
Even after the experiences of 9/11 and the findings of the 9/11
Commission, it was a difficult and enormously frustrating challenge to
truly integrate the Nation's counterterrorism efforts. It speaks to
Director Leiter's energy and dedication that he was, eventually, able
to bring together analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the
National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and
military services to share the threat streams that each one collected
and assessed.
The result has been the ability to better connect the intelligence
information that points to suspicious activity, to develop the case
when a terrorist or a terror plot is identified, and to take
coordinated action to disrupt that plot.
The NCTC now produces, on a daily basis, its own counterterrorism
analysis that provides Intelligence Community-wide assessments and
warning. Analysts at the NCTC are among the finest we have, and
Director Leiter has fostered a productive environment through
analytical roundtables and weekly forums in which analysts share
information, provide briefings, and develop improved analytic
tradecraft.
In fact, I recently learned that as the CIA was developing its
assessment that Usama bin Laden was in the Abbottabad compound, it
turned to NCTC analysts to ``red-team'' the intelligence case and give
their assessments. And Director Leiter was involved in the briefings
and discussions with the President that led to the decision to carry
out the operation.
Director Leiter has demonstrated leadership in hard times, as well.
After the failed terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound airliner on
December 25, 2009, investigations uncovered significant failures and
shortcomings in our counterterrorism efforts. The Senate Intelligence
Committee's review found 14 specific ``points of failure'' across the
government that enabled Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to come so close to
carrying out a major attack.
[[Page S4388]]
While several of our conclusions and recommendations fell to other
agencies, Director Leiter moved quickly to implement the changes that
we and others suggested. Since early 2010, the NCTC has vastly improved
its methods for screening counterterrorism data and watchlisting
individuals who pose a threat to our Nation.
In response to the finding that no agency in the government was
ensuring that all terrorist leads were pursued, Mike implemented
``Pursuit Groups'' at NCTC, teams of highly skilled analysts who sift
through massive amounts of data to identify disparate pieces of
intelligence and find linkages that identify terrorists, their plans,
and their networks before they reach the point of plot execution.
In addition to his service at the National Counterterrorism Center,
Mr. Leiter helped establish the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence as its deputy chief of staff, having previously served as
the deputy general counsel and assistant director of the very well-
regarded WMD Commission led by Senator Chuck Robb and Judge Laurence
Silberman.
From 2002 to 2005, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern
District of Virginia, one of the most active jurisdictions for national
security cases. He clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer and for Chief
Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First
Circuit.
Most people do not know that Mike was also a naval aviator, flying
EA-6B Prowlers with action in operations in the former Yugoslavia and
in Iraq.
In short, he has served the Nation in a wide variety of capacities
over the past 20 years
I thank Mike for his exemplary service in keeping this Nation safe
and for his very positive relationship with the Intelligence Committee
as we have carried out our oversight duties.
I expect that this will not be Mike's last service to the Nation, and
I wish him all the best.
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