Transcripts For CSPAN Commencement Address 20130727 : vimars

Completion of this is a in important milestone. It is necessary for future promotions and assignments and or joint force. He basically introduced this. He had this as joint duty. This is a big deal. It is a tremendous opportunity for our talented civilian workforce as they advance. You cannot make it into the service of our intelligence perfection. It is another moniker as it continues. In the sitting directory of the fbi. These highlight the fact that this university is doing exactly what it should be doing. Integrating intelligence, one student at a time while graduating leaders who will lead with in our armed forces. I can assure you this institution has very deep roots in a very bright future. Niu is on its way to achieving your vision of becoming the center of academic life for the United States Intelligence Community. To the class of 2013, congratulations, and very well done for choosing what you will walk across the stage to receive today, and i would like to give them another round of applause. You should be proud of yourselves, you have tackled a challenging field of immense proportion and immense importance to our nation. Quickly reviewing a list of the thesis topics you can tell how this class has covered almost every corner of the globe, from china, iran, north korea, the middle east, india, africa, philippines, latin america, to here in the United States covering some of the most vital issues that we wrestle with in the Intelligence Community every day, issues such as terrorism, cyber threats, counterintelligence, space, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and general instability, and so many others. It is a complex world. As our nation will face daunting security challenges ahead, i have full confidence that you are ready to assume the mantels of leadership in your organizations. The common bonds you have formed throughout your joint study here are crucial. Remember each of you is a force multiplier for integration and collaboration, which are the keys to avoiding strategic surprise and providing our National Leaders that vital decision advantage and confidence they require. I challenge each of you to Carry Forward nius culture of integration as you moved your next station. I challenge you to mold the Intelligence Community and to the organization that in each to be for our nation is the future. It is fitting that on this event of the 50th anniversary of this fine institution were joined by some of the most distinguished members of our profession, including director clapper and our former International Security Assistance Force and u. S. Forces in afghanistan commander general john allen, a graduate of the class of 1984, and i would like to give them both a round of applause. It is an honor to introduce our commencement speaker, the honorable james clapper, the fourth director of National Intelligence. He has a long track record of support for intelligence education and is a special friend to this university, as has been highlighted. As both director of dia and the National Spatial Intelligence Agency as well as the undersecretary of defense and now serving as the fourth director of National Intelligence, theres no one that has served our nation and continues to serve our nation during so many trying times that director clapper has done. From his first serving our nation as the United States marine, during his time as a young airman in vietnam, throughout all the difficult times our nation has faced over the past five decades of peace, war, and conflict, what many do not know is that in the mid 1990s he served as an instructor teaching a course, knowing he would go on to shape this Great Institution. That is very true, amazing, little knowing that he would go on to shape this Great Institution that the community has become and to lead that tens of thousands of women and men who make up our tremendous workforce. Director clapper was awarded an honorary doctorate by niu in 1992, and it was through his leadership that this institution became the national university. On behalf of all the men and women in the United States Intelligence Community, all of you that are here, i would like to thank you, and i would like to present to you, to the audience here, as he gets up here and provides the commencement speech, ladies and gentlemen, director clapper. Thank you very much. I could not be reminded of the screaming child that was escorted out, and i am mindful of the fact that the younger members of the audience are unimpressed with this whole thing. [laughter] i recall a long time ago when i was the Old Air Force Security Headquarters in texas, the time i was there every quarter we would run a big parade for retirements. And a bunch of lieutenants, one of whom was me, got together and said why dont we run this thing because we are closer to marching than these field grade officers. When the lieutenant took care of the parade over, i got to be the perpetual adjutant. I was having one of these parades and the point where the adjutant comes up to the commander and said, the parade is formed, and my daughter was sitting on my wifes lap, and she said, hi, daddy, at the top of her lungs, and the crowd broke up, and i am trying to stand here and act very military. I will never forget that. Thanks very much for that very kind, gracious introduction. Usually when we speak together, we are testifying in front of congress. [laughter] that is quality bonding time. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2013, staff and faculty of the university, and let me mention also the particular hero of mine is general john allen, and at the risk of doing it, i ask for a round of applause for john. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the family members here, even the ones that are not too impressed. They do not often get to participate in something in what we do. I was privileged to address the classes of 1992 through 1995 when i had the honor of serving as director, and the class of 2007 i was the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, but this is my first time. This is the best part of my job, adding a chance to congratulate members of the Intelligence Community for their competence. Add on to that i get to welcome you back into your jobs after your vacation here. We have been waiting for you, to put your new superior knowledge to use for a safer america and a more secure world. This month, as was indicated, marks the 50th anniversary of my commissioning as an air force second lieutenant, almost coincidental with the first class of the brandnew defense class graduating. Both our titles have changed over the years. Dis became the Defense Intelligence college, where i taught as an adjunct professor, and the national Defense Intelligence college, and now it is most appropriate the National Intelligence university. I am referred to as director, at least in polite company, and had been called general, colonel, etc. , and back when the marine corps asic training, i was called several things there which i cannot repeat in mixed company. As we developed over the last 50 years, i like to think we have gotten wiser with those name changes, at least niu has. I want to take a moment to commend president ellison and the current staff and faculty for all they have done, and particularly for president ellisons passion and leadership. So i ask for a round of applause for david ellison. Niu is becoming worldwide respected institution with a dynamic and visionary plan. It is not all pie in the sky. You are integrating intelligence, which is a big thing to me, one student at a time, and that is what the i. C. Needs from you as graduates. I salute you for that. As they say this is an exciting time to be in the Intelligence Community. Most of us would prefer a more boring time, i know i would, but that is not an option. We live with threats from terrorism, nuclear proliferation, cyber, and competition over natural resources. I would go so far to say that as a nation we face more diverse threats now than at any time during my 50year career in intelligence. Shrinking budgets have added to the danger, because it is not realistic to think we can ever do more with less. We are going to do less with less. We will just have to identify and manage risks were closely than before. There have been challenges throughout my career. In my first combat experience was in vietnam, and i will go be going back there next month for the First Time Since i left in 1966. Im looking forward to that. Intelligence automation in the day was map, a grease pencil, and two corporals. Even when moving quickly and headed to Desert Shield and desert storm, we have come lightyears since then, even with all the improvements we made then, particularly in imagery, and 9 11 changed everything. The prevention act was a growth of 9 11 called for greater integration. I felt that was a natural thing for me to take on in this job the sum is greater than the parts to produce better products for our policy, our decisionmakers, whether sitting in a foxhole or the white house. I think that calls for integration, horizontally across the socalled and vertically now, the added responsibility we have for attending to state and local and tribal partners. A couple words on budgets. We had a decade of growth after 9 11 in the Intelligence Community. Every year we got more money. Now we are in a different mode. We have been through this before. This happened in my time as director and hopefully we can profit from that experience and apply those lessons learned, and as we constrict ourselves, we will do it smarter than we did in the 1990s. We have still important priorities. I have about five, but i will mention the most important one, which are represented here today, and that is our people, which is our most valuable asset. It is the people who will have the ingenuity, the drive, and the innovation to figure out ways to get around and obviate, mitigate these reductions. Other challenges, i will not go into detail, but the recent nsa leaks drama crystallizes some conflicting demands on us as intel professionals, a need to safeguard our citizens lives, a duty to share intelligence information, our responsibility to protect sensitive sources and methods, and an imperative to protect American Civil Liberties and privacy. We must synchronize and meld all these competing forces simultaneously. And we should preferably do it out of the limelight. We serve our nation, and for us that is satisfaction enough. Now we are at the part of any graduation speech that always makes me cringe, which is giving advice for the future. This will be really short. I realize once you achieve geezerdom, as i have, people expect some pearls of wisdom. I do not know if this qualifies, but here are five rules of thumb i try to subscribe to. Now that you have made all these great connections with classmates from every part of the i. C. And government, it is time to think beyond your organization. You need to build those strong partnerships, as the president alluded to the phone call between the phone call of the director of the cia and fbi, and that works, so i need you, the most recently educated, to understand the concept of intelligence integration. Do not confuse integration across agencies with making every agency and organization into the same bland oatmeal. Integrate across organizational lines to take advantage of the diversity as represented in this class and the strength of different organizations with their unique capabilities. There are things about stovepipes, cultures, and tradecraft that are worth preserving. That is a term used pejoratively, but also an important capability for us. Do not gloss over problems. Meet them early and head on. Bad news does not good get better with age, but the key part of leadership is recognizing when a mistake is made you need to correct the situation as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Try to stay calm under pressure. It is right there on the cover of the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Do not panic. Be kind. It goes a long way, much further than you realize. Do not neglect your worklife balance. Family and friends help you get there. You want them to be there for the rest of your career when you retire. Take care of yourself physically and mentally. A strong body and a clear head are central to clear decision making. 66 years ago today, president truman signed the National Security act which created dod, department of the air force, cia, and joint chiefs of staff. He signed this directive aboard the Douglas Skymaster c54, which in the day, instead of being air force one, was called sacred cow. As an expression, a sacred cow is something to do that so much reverence it is immune from criticism and that everyone is reluctant to change. That is the way it has always been. We cannot think that way in our business. My hope is both the National Intelligence university and each of you will continue to improve with age, just like fine wine. Another great president , theodore roosevelt, said old age is like Everything Else to make a success of it you have to start young. You might notice i think about these kinds of philosophical musings. Best of luck to all of you, and many, many congratulations. It is a proud day for you and your families him, and i am proud to serve with you as we Work Together to keep this country and our allies say. God bless all of you and god bless america. Thank you very much. Ron of thes a member Intelligence Committee and he gave his view of the patriot act. Here is a portion. This is part of the appropriations bill. In you working on a thing the senate. I am definitely working with democrats and republicans to overhaul this program dramatically. There have been a number of discussions already with senators on both sides of the aisle and discussions certainly with that house votes. United a quarter in the States Senate on record saying they are very interested in the issues that are central to this debate. Somee finally getting answers. The answer is yes. You will see a bipartisan effort to the cap on the work of the that intrudes on the privacy and liberty of millions of lawabiding americans. Portion of our interview with senator wyden. You can watch the entire interview tomorrow at 10 00 a. M. And 6 00 p. M. Eastern time. There is a new nominee for Homeland Security deputy secretary. His name is all honcho mallorca is. Republican members of bessette members of committee were noshows the key is under investigation for misusing his current decision as the tractor of the u. S. Services. He has denied wrongdoing. Here is that Senate Confirmation hearing. It is about one hour and 40 minutes. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this hearing. Welcome, secretary mayorkas. Welcome to senator feinstein. And certainly welcome to our colleagues on the committee, especially senator landrieu, who has agreed to say a few words about you before we get started. Senator feinstein and senator landrieu have a markup going on right now. They have come here to introduce secretary mayorkas. We are grateful you could come. Thank you, and i appreciate the courtesy, so thank you. It is a pleasure for me to introduce president obamas nominee for deputy secretary of the department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. I have known ali for many years and have been proud to recommend him to president clinton for position of the United States attorney for the Central District of california as well as to president obama for his current position as director of the u. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The role of deputy secretary within the department is really an important one. The deputy secretary is charged with overseeing the agencys efforts to Counter Terrorism and enhance the security and management of our borders, while facilitating trade and travel and enforcing our Immigration Laws. Additionally, this secretary assists in safeguarding and securing cyberspace, supports National Security in times of disaster, and that is in coordination with federal, state, local, international, and private sector partners. Mr. Mayorkas brings to this office a diverse background and a set of experiences in both the private and public sectors. Born in cuba, mr. Mayorkas earned his b. A. With distinction from the university of california. He earned his law degree from loyola in 1985. Those who have enjoyed the opportunity to work with him regard him as being highly intelligent, thoughtful, kind and compassionate, and dedicated to doing the right thing. From 1989 to 1998, he served as an assistant u. S. Attorney for the Central District of california, where he prosecuted a wide array of federal crimes, specializing in the prosecution of whitecollar crimes. Federal Law Enforcement agencies recognized his success with multiple awards. For example, he received commendations from fbi director louis freeh for his successful prosecution of operation polar cap, which was the largest moneylaundering case in the nation at the time. He continued to distinguish himself by becoming the first