Diplomatic Security's Mission in the Age of Terrorism

All of our activities are contingent upon Congressional support, and we are grateful for the funding and other support you have given us to achieve our mission.

Law Enforcement: Fighting Travel Document Fraud and Alien Smuggling
More than ever, terrorism, alien smuggling, and other transnational crimes represent a severe threat to American interests. In response, Diplomatic Security works as a global force in this continuous fight for our nation’s security. As the law enforcement arm of the State Department, DS has statutory responsibility for protecting the integrity of the U.S. passport and visas––the “gold standard” of international travel documents. We are the most widely represented U.S. security and law enforcement organization, with more than 1,300 special agents serving overseas at U.S. diplomatic missions and in the United States. The majority of these work full time maintaining the security of our people, facilities, and information, but we have put a higher priority on our investigative focus. Shortly after taking charge of DS, I directed that a minimum of 9 percent of our special agents would be available daily for investigative work. The results were excellent. Our investigative productivity on visa and passport fraud has improved substantially in the past 2 years––762 individuals were arrested on DS charges in 2003 and 401 were arrested through the first half of this year. We are also aggressively attacking visa fraud involving State Department officials. A total of 168 internal fraud investigations have resulted in the arrest of 12 employees since 9/11.

We continually foster cooperation with international police and collaborate with American law enforcement agencies to combat those who endanger our national security. Key to our work is our partnership with the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA). In an outgrowth of our shared mission to protect the integrity of the passport and visa issuance processes, DS and CA joined together to promote a proactive, zero-tolerance policy on passport and visa malfeasance. A major joint initiative was the establishment of the Vulnerability Assessment Unit (VAU), which analyzes consular data, systems, and procedures to identify vulnerabilities to the visa issuance process and specific instances of consular malfeasance and internal corruption.

Based upon the successes of this unit, DS and CA are planning to expand this concept to encompass external fraud and alien smuggling. Once established, this external fraud unit will make us better able to assess criminal intelligence and fraud information from our overseas posts and domestic passport agencies––thereby more effectively targeting visa and passport brokers who seek to corrupt the system. In further coordination with CA, we recently established 25 investigative positions at typically high-fraud overseas posts in Nigeria, Mexico, Thailand, the Philippines, and elsewhere. Over the past 6 months, approximately 200 individuals from around the world have been arrested on fraud-related charges as the result of cooperative efforts between DS agents and host nation law enforcement.

On the domestic front, DS is making great strides on several initiatives designed to enhance the power behind our enforcement capabilities. DS successfully petitioned the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase the minimum sentences for passport and visa fraud so that when they become effective in November 2004, our investigations become more attractive for prosecution and serve as a true deterrent to future criminals. DS has also been admitted into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund program, which allows it to seize the assets of those who profit from passport and visa fraud.

The cooperation among agencies recommended by the 9/11 Commission is already at work in a number of key areas, including law enforcement. This year alone, DS agents have assisted other agencies with the arrest of 56 U.S. fugitives overseas. DS works with federal agencies including the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and others, along with numerous state and local law enforcement agencies and host country governments to track down these fugitives. Furthermore, we have the example of Global Pursuit, a program with Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and airport authorities in which DS established investigative units at 11 international U.S. airports to better respond when individuals are identified as traveling on counterfeit documents. Another example of this cooperation is the interagency Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, which was recently re-established by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Attorney General to bring together federal agency representatives on a full-time basis to convert intelligence into effective law enforcement and other action against the international criminal networks that illegally smuggle and traffic in people across borders. The Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center is an all-source intelligence/law enforcement/policy fusion center and information clearinghouse with a strong foreign focus.

Intelligence Sharing: The Counterterrorism Security Group
Intelligence sharing among DS and other agencies existed before 9/11, but the quality of information exchange and effectiveness has improved significantly since then. Apart from the DS intelligence liaison with DHS, the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the U.S. Capitol Police, we also participate in the Counterterrorism Security Group (CSG), a very important forum directed by the National Security Council and comprised of various U.S. Government agencies involved in counterterrorism. The purpose of the CSG is to share information and coordinate counterterrorism action on a daily basis against threats to U.S. interests domestically and abroad. Each morning I attend a meeting chaired by Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend and attended by key representatives from the Homeland Security Council, FBI, CIA, DoD, DHS, DOJ, Treasury, and TTIC. A staff-level meeting is conducted every afternoon, in which the progress on the day’s issues is discussed and late-breaking information is shared.

I have a unique perspective of the CSG, having been a member from July 2001 to November 2002 as the Secretary’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT), and from that point to the present as the Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security. Hence, my perspective includes pre- and post-9/11 participation as well as responsibility for both the policy side and the operational aspect of counterterrorism.

Given this perspective, I can say that even before 9/11, the quality of the CSG as a forum for cooperation among counterterrorism agencies was the best I had seen in 35 years of government service. Certainly there was opportunity for improvement, as shown by the 9/11 Commission’s work. But in my opinion, it has always been and remains the nation’s premier intelligence-sharing mechanism. The quality of the interaction has improved, and, having witnessed the level of cooperation during emergencies and periods of heightened alert, I can say that the benefit of the CSG for the United States is tremendous. The CSG, in promoting ever more comprehensive analysis of intelligence, has improved the quality of the intelligence we receive from our collectors in the field. We are all working ever more closely together. The level of cooperation and urgency reflected in the CSG is mirrored repeatedly in the day-to-day operational levels through federal counter terrorism task forces around the country, our liaison personnel, and in special initiatives such as our ongoing effort to provide a safe and secure Olympics for American athletes and citizens in Athens––an initiative on which we have worked closely with you and your staff.

Information Sharing: The Overseas Security Advisory Council
Diplomatic Security also is an information-sharing resource to the American private sector operating abroad. Our Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) helps businesses, universities, religious groups and nongovernmental organizations cope with security threats by sharing information on crime and terrorism and by providing insight into political, economic, social, and cultural climates around the globe. OSAC began in 1985, but it has grown significantly in the past few years, including a Web site which reaches more than 1.8 million visitors per month and an email circulation averaging 200,000 recipients monthly. The service we provide is unique––real-time, Web-based information sharing on the security situation abroad as it affects its constituents. OSAC is replicated around the globe through its country council program at 81 cities. The councils provide the forum that brings together U.S. diplomatic personnel and the private sector to share information about security issues of mutual concern in the region. Each country council operates its own Web site, so that there is a continuous link between the public and private sectors. Our goal is to have 100 country councils operating by the end of 2004.

Foreign Government Antiterrorism Training
Diplomatic Security also shares its expertise in counterterrorism capabilities with foreign governments. Through our Antiterrorism Training Assistance Program (ATA), which provides terrorism-focused police training to civilian security personnel from friendly governments, we work with Ambassador Cofer Black’s team at S/CT to increase the capacity of other states to fight terrorism. Since its inception in 1983, we have trained more than 36,000 foreign police officers from more than 130 countries in counterterrorism disciplines such as bomb detection, crime scene investigations, crisis management, airport and building security, maritime security, dignitary protection, and more. Once trained, these law enforcement officials are better prepared to institutionalize their training, develop national operational and tactical strategies to fight terrorism, and to protect their own citizens and ours overseas during heightened threat situations or related crises.

The ATA program is yielding concrete results. For example, the ATA-trained Indonesian National Police “Task Force 88” has arrested 110 suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiah and Free Aceh Movement terrorist organization with known ties to Al-Qa’ida. These are the groups responsible for a series of bombings, including the 2000 Christmas church bombings, the 2002 Bali and J.W. Marriott bombings, and the failed bombing attempt in the Medan Shopping Center mall.

Another example comes from Pakistan. Recently, the ATA-trained Pakistani Special Investigation Group arrested 12 persons suspected of the attempted assassination of Prime Minister-designate Shaukat Aziz. The group traced fragments of a bomber’s shirt to the suspects. The group also arrested five Iraqi nationals and confiscated suspected counterfeit documents near Islamabad. These Iraqis had been residing in Pakistan illegally for 4 years and possessed large amounts of currency without visible means of financial support. The case is being pursued as a potential terrorist-related event.

As these results show, raising the counterterrorism capacity of other states has reaped multiple benefits. Governments have a vested interest in combating terrorism that affects their own national security and the security of their regimes. Our cooperation assures us of the quality of their training and the extent of their capabilities. It fosters ongoing relationships with law enforcement officials from our country and theirs. And most importantly (though this is most difficult to measure), it stops potential terrorist attacks against American interests or the United States itself at the site of their genesis.

I appreciate the support we have received from Congress for our efforts to address terrorism by innovative means through the ATA program. This is reflected in ATA’s greatly increased budget. When I was the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in 2001, the annual funding for our ATA program was $39 million. For 2004 Congress appropriated the program $176 million.

Counterterrorism Outreach: Rewards for Capture of Terrorists
I am also grateful for Congressional support for our Rewards for Justice Program, which is another key tool in the U.S. Government’s antiterrorism efforts. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid out over $57 million for information leading to the capture of terrorists or individuals associated with terrorist-friendly regimes. Most recently we have paid rewards for the apprehension of Colombian rebels who kidnapped four U.S. citizens and killed one of them. We have also paid informers who contributed to the capture of members of the former Iraqi regime from the infamous deck of cards, including Saddam Hussein’s sons, who were the Ace of Clubs and the Ace of Hearts.