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			    THE WHITE HOUSE
				    
		     Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                      July 14, 1995     


				    
			REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
	     TO STAFF OF THE CIA AND INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
				    
				    
		      Central Intelligence Agency
			    McLean, Virginia    			     

	     
	     

11:45 A.M. EDT
	     
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.  Director Deutch and 
Mrs. Deutch, Deputy Director and Mrs. Tenant, members of Congress, 
members of the Aspin Commission who are here, men and women of the 
intelligence community:  I can't help thinking here at the Central 
Intelligence Agency that if we were giving intelligence awards today 
they would go to the people back there under the trees.  (Laughter.)  
Congratulations to all of you for your adaptation of the natural 
environment to the task at hand.
	     
	     Before I begin my remarks today I'd like to take care of 
an important piece of business.  Just a month ago it was with regret 
but great gratitude for his 32 years of service to our country that I 
accepted the resignation of Admiral Bill Studeman as the Deputy 
Director of Central Intelligence.  Today it is with great pleasure 
that I award him the President's National Security Medal.  
(Applause.)  
	     
	     Admiral Studeman, Mrs. Studeman, please come up.  
(Applause.)
	     
	     This is the highest award a member of our intelligence 
community, military or civilian, can receive.  And no one deserves it 
more and the honor it represents.  Most of you are well aware of 
Bill's extraordinary and exemplary career in the Navy, at the 
National Security Agency, and then here at the CIA.  Let me say that 
as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, he served two Presidents 
and three DCIs.  For two extended periods he took on the 
responsibilities of acting director.  He provided continuity and 
leadership to this community at a time of change and great challenge.  
Here, in Congress and throughout the Executive Branch, he earned a 
reputation for integrity, competence, and reliability of the highest 
order.
	     
	     He has dedicated his professional life to making the 
American people safer and more secure.  And today it is only fitting 
among those who know best the contributions he has made to our 
country to award him this medal as a small measure of thanks for a 
job well done and a life well lived.  
	     
	     Thank you, Admiral.  (Applause.)
	     
	     You know as the Studemans make their way back to their 
chairs, I have to tell you that even though I have a lot of important 
things to say, I am loathe to make this speech in this heat.  Once in 
the middle of a campaign for governor I went up to a place in 
northeast Arkansas to make a speech for a county judge who was 
determined that I had to come to celebrate this road that he had 
built with funds that I gave him.  He neglected to tell me that the 
road ended in the middle of a rice field.  (Laughter.)  The only 
people that are laughing are the people that understand what this 
means.  In the summertime in a rice field, there is nothing but heat 
and mosquitos.  
	     
	     And a swarm of mosquitos came up in the middle of his 
introduction, literally hundreds of thousands of mosquitos.  It was 
so bad that people were slapping at their cheeks and their legs and 
blood was streaming down people's faces and cheeks.  And this judge 
was one of the rare people that mosquitoes would never bite.  
(Laughter.)  I had been Governor for 10 years; these people knew me 
better than he did.  He took six minutes to introduce me.  It seemed 
like it was six years.  (Laughter.)  
	     
	     And I finally was introduced and I gave the following 
speech:  Folks, I have a good speech, if you want to hear it, come to 
the air-conditioned building down there.  If we don't get out of here 
we'll all die.  If you reelect me I'll kill every mosquito in the 
county.  (Laughter and applause.)
	     
	     I have to tell you that after that I never received less 
than two-thirds of the vote in that county.  (Laughter.)  So I'm 
loathed to give this speech.  But I will cut it down and say what I 
have to say to you because it's very important that I say these 
things, and very important that America know that you're here and 
what you're doing.
	     
	     Fifty-four years ago, in the weeks that led up to Pearl 
Harbor, there was a wide range of intelligence suggesting a Japanese 
attack that made its way to Washington.  But there was no clear 
clearinghouse to collect the information and to get it to the 
decision-makers.  That is what led President Truman to establish a 
Central Intelligence organization.
	     
	     In the years since, the men and women of the CIA and its 
sister agencies have done more than most Americans will or can ever 
know to keep our nation strong and secure, and to advance the cause 
of democracy and freedom around the world.
	     
	     Today, because the Cold War is over, some say that we 
should and can step back from the world and that we don't need 
intelligence as much as we used to; that we ought to severely cut the 
intelligence budget.  A few have even urged us to scrap the Central 
Intelligence service.  I think these views are profoundly wrong.  I 
believe making deep cuts in intelligence during peacetime is 
comparable to cancelling your health insurance when you're feeling 
fine.	     	  
	     
	     We are living at a moment of hope.  Our nation is at 
peace, our economy is growing, all right.  All around the world 
democracy and free markets are on the march.  But none of these 
developments are inevitable or irreversible, and every single study 
of human psychology or the human spirit -- every single religious 
track tells us that there will be troubles, wars and rumors of war 
until the end of time.  
	     
	     Now, instead of a single enemy, we face a host of 
scattered and dangerous challenges, but they are quite profound and 
difficult to understand.  There are ethnic and regional tensions that 
threaten to flare into full-scale war in more than 30 nations.  Two 
dozen countries are trying to get their hands on nuclear, chemical, 
and biological weapons.  As these terrible tools of destruction 
spread, so, too, spreads the potential for terrorism and for 
criminals to acquire them.  And drug trafficking, organized crime and 
environmental decay threaten the stability of new and emerging 
democracies, and threaten our well-being here at home.
	     
	     In the struggle against these forces, you, the men and 
women of our intelligence community, serve on the front lines.  By 
necessity, a lot of your work is hidden from the headlines.  But in 
recent months alone you warned us when Iraq massed its troops against 
the Kuwaiti border.  You provided vital support to our peacekeeping 
and humanitarian missions in Haiti and Rwanda.  You helped to strike 
a blow at a Colombian drug cartel.  You uncovered bribes that would 
have cheated American countries out of billions of dollars.  Your 
work has saved lives and promoted America's prosperity.  I am here 
today first and foremost to thank you and your families for the work 
and sacrifices you have made for the security of the United States of 
America.  (Applause.)
	     
	     I want to work with you to maintain the information and 
the intelligence advantage we have, and to meet the demands of a new 
era.  Today our government is deluged with more and more information 
from more and more sources.  What once was secret can now be 
available to anybody with cable TV or access to the Internet.  It 
moves around the world at record speed.  And in order to justify 
spending billions of dollars in this kind of environment on 
intelligence and to maintain our edge, you have to deliver timely, 
unique information that focuses on real threats to the security of 
our people on the basis of information not otherwise available.
	     
	     That means we have to rethink what we collect and how we 
organize the intelligence community to collect it.  We must be 
selective.  We can't possibly have in a world with so many diverse 
threats and tight budgets the resources to collect everything.  You 
need and deserve clear priorities from me and our national security 
team.  
	     
	     Earlier this year I set out in a presidential decision 
directive what we most want you to focus on -- priorities that will 
remain under constant review, but still are clear enough at the 
present time.  First, the intelligence needs of our military during 
an operation.  If we have to stand down Iraqi aggression in the Gulf 
or stand for democracy in Haiti, our military commanders must have 
prompt, thorough intelligence to fully inform their decisions and 
maximize the security of our troops.
	     
	     Second, political, economic and military intelligence 
about countries hostile to the United States.  We must also compile 
all source information on major political and economic powers with 
weapons of mass destruction who are potentially hostile to us.
	     
	     Third, intelligence about specific trans-national 
threats to our security, such as weapons proliferation, terrorism, 
drug trafficking, organized crime, illicit trade practices and 
environmental issues of great gravity.
	     
	     This work must be done today and it is vital to our 
security.  But it cannot be immune to the tough budget climate in 
which we are all living.  That's why I'm pleased that more than every 
before, our intelligence agencies are cooperating to work efficiently 
and to eliminate duplication.  You are already implementing on or 
ahead of schedule 33 streamlining recommendations set out by Vice 
President Gore and former DCI Woolsey, as well as changes proposed by 
Director Deutch.
	     
	     Acting apart, our agencies waste resources and squander 
opportunities to make our country more secure.  But acting together, 
they bring a powerful force to bear on threats to our security.
	     
	     Let me also say that I believe there is no zero sum 
choice to be made between the technological and human dimensions of 
intelligence.  We need both and we will have both.  We've used 
satellites and signals to identify troop movements, to point agents 
in the right direction, to tap into secret important conversations.  
Today, some of your extraordinary in-house innovations are available 
for broader use -- and I am interested in learning more about them -- 
imagery technology, developed for the Cold War now being used in aid 
to natural disaster relief; imagery technology with great hope for 
the fight against breast cancer.  We have to keep moving on this kind 
of technological frontier.  
	     
	     But no matter how good our technology, we'll always rely 
on human intelligence to tell us what an adversary has in mind.  
We'll always need gifted, motivated case officers at the heart of the 
clandestine service.  We'll always need good analysts to make a clean 
and clear picture out of the fragments of what our spies and 
satellites put on the table.  
	     
	     And if we're going to continue to attract and keep the 
best people we have to do a better job of rewarding work.  I think 
the best way to do that is for the communities leadership to 
demonstrate to you that excellence of performance, equal opportunity 
and personal accountability are the only standards that will count 
when it comes to promotion.  And that is what Director Deutch has 
pledged to do.  
	     
	     Let me say that I know the Ames scandal has colored a 
lot of what is the current debate over the future of the CIA.  I 
imagine most of you who work here think that the Ames scandal has 
colored what the average American thinks about the CIA, although my 
guess is that you're probably overestimating that and underestimating 
the common sense and balance of an average American citizen.  It's 
important that we don't minimize the damage that Ames did or the 
charges that need to be made -- the changes that need to be made to 
prevent future scandals.  But Aldridge Ames was a terrible exception 
to a proud tradition of service -- a tradition that is reflected in 
the 59 stars that shine on the CIA's memorial wall in honor of those 
who gave our lives -- their lives to serve our country.
	     
	     So we owe it to all of you in the intelligence community 
and to the American people to make sure we act on the lessons of his 
treason, but also to remind the American people that the people who 
work for the Central Intelligence Agency are patriotic Americans who 
have made a decision that they are going to devote their careers to 
keeping this country safe and strong.  And I thank you for that.  
(Applause.)
	     
	     As soon as Ames was brought to justice, I ordered a 
comprehensive reexamination in both internal and external studies of 
our counterintelligence operations.  As a result, we changed the way 
intelligence community does its business.  Each agency now requires 
more attention and continuous training in counterintelligence and 
evaluates its employees more thoroughly and frequently.
	     
	     Above all, we are insisting that those involved in an 
operation take responsibility for its integrity.  That requires 
careful advanced planning that integrates counterintelligence into 
everything you do from day one.  This isn't just about safes and 
locks, it's about designing operations that minimize the possibility 
of a security breakdown. 
	     
	     Director Deutch and I want to ensure that these new 
policies are carried out carefully so that we can avoid creating a 
climate of suspicion that embitters rather than empowers you.  As we 
guard against a repeat of the Ames episode, we have to be careful not 
to produce a culture so risk averse that case officers refuse to take 
chances and analysts are afraid to speak their minds.  You must not 
be paralyzed by the fear of failure.
	     
	     This administration will continue to support bold and 
aggressive actions by the intelligence community consistent with the 
laws of the land, consistent with our interests, and consistent with 
our values.  I applaud Director Deutch's plan, for example, to issue 
new rules on dealing with foreign agents suspected of human rights 
abuses.  We owe you clear guidance on this issue.  And as a country, 
we have to resolve it in the right way.
	     
	     Finally, we owe the American public and Congress a full 
role in the debate over the future of intelligence.  For over 40 
years, bipartisan support for the work you perform has been central 
to your success.  That support and the confidence of the American 
people were built on the unique oversight and consultative role 
Congress plays in intelligence.  That's why Director Deutch and I 
will take with the utmost seriousness the concerns and suggestions of 
both the Congress and the Aspin Commission.
	     
	     Every morning I start my day with an intelligence 
report.  The intelligence I receive informs just about every foreign 
policy decision we make.  It's easy to take it for granted, but we 
couldn't do without it.  Unique intelligence makes it less likely 
that our forces will be sent into battle, less likely that American 
lives will have to put at risk.  It gives us a chance to prevent 
crisis instead of forcing us to manage them.
	     
	     So let me say to all the men and women of our 
intelligence community, I know and you know the challenges we face 
today will not be easy, but we know that you are already working 
every day to increase the security of every American.  You are making 
a difference.  Now we have to work together and I have to support you 
so that we can meet the challenge of doing this work even better with 
even more public support and confidence in its integrity and 
long-term impact.  That is my commitment to you as you renew your 
commitment to America, in a world fraught with danger, but filled 
with promise that you will help us to seize.
	     
	     Thank you very much and God bless you all.  (Applause.)

             END                          12:03 P.M. EDT



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