Hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee - Nomination of Caryn Wagner to be Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security

Statement

Statement of Senator Susan M. Collins

The nomination of Caryn Wagner to serve as the next Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis and Chief Intelligence Officer at DHS comes at a time when our understanding of threats to our security is rapidly evolving.

Recent events serve to remind us that the threat of terrorist attacks no longer comes only from countries half a world away, but also from within our borders. The arrests of plotters like Najibullah Zazi in New York, the indictment of 14 individuals in Minneapolis connected with recruiting Somali-Americans to fight with a terrorist group in Somalia, and the shooting rampage at Fort Hood have underscored a key finding of this Committee over the course of a four-year investigation. The threat of violent Islamist radicalization occurring in this country is real -- and it is happening now.

Detecting and responding to this threat does not fall to the FBI alone. An effective response requires a coordinated effort backed by the support of the hundreds of thousands of state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers on the front lines every day. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis plays a critical role in that effort.

Over the course of the last several years, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis has provided vital support to our law enforcement community. State and local fusion centers have benefitted from I & A-developed training programs. DHS intelligence analysts have been detailed to fusion centers, serving alongside their state and local partners to understand and respond to their intelligence needs. I & A has disseminated numerous classified and unclassified intelligence products to help federal, state, local, and tribal officials and the private sector prepare for, prevent, and respond to homeland security threats.

Ms. Wagner possesses considerable experience in managing the budget and analytic products of intelligence community elements but appears to lack experience working with state and local law enforcement. That is an important responsibility of the Under Secretary. To meet the intelligence
requirements of state and local law enforcement officials, who are among I & A's most significant intelligence customers, will require a sustained and focused commitment from the next Under Secretary.

To continue to improve I & A and integrate the DHS intelligence enterprise, the next Under Secretary also will need to address several significant challenges:
*
Information sharing has improved, but there remains resistance to the culture of sharing that must exist across the Department, within our intelligence community, and between I & A and its federal, state, and local partners. Important information is still not getting into the hands of those who need it at a level of classification where they can use it.
*
I & A must continue to focus on improving the quality of its analysis -- producing timely and actionable information for its intelligence customers, not merely repackaging or forwarding analysis done elsewhere.
*
I & A continues to rely too heavily on contractors to perform its work. While contractors can be an important force multiplier, and provide a "surge capacity" on unique topics, I & A needs a strong base of federal employees. Contractors currently make up approximately 63 percent of the I & A workforce. The new Under Secretary must correct this imbalance.
*
I & A must adapt to the changing nature of the homegrown threat. As this Committee has found, self-radicalizing, "lone wolf" terrorists are harder to detect and deter. I & A and the entire intelligence and law enforcement community will have to develop new ways to respond to the growing threat of homegrown terrorism.

I look forward to discussing these and other issues with Ms. Wagner today.

Source