SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR PANEL FOUR:

GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE

Designated Commissioners: Gorelick and Lehman

Creation of a Domestic Intelligence Agency

What is your assessment of the effectiveness of the government's current organizational

structure to perform the collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence in the United
States (hereinafter, the "domestic intelligence function") for the purpose of combating
terrorism?

Were the attacks of September 11 evidence of a systemic problem with the organization of our
government to carry out the domestic intelligence function?

Some have recommended the separation of the domestic intelligence function from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.

• Should a new separate agency be created? Would the American public accept a domestic
intelligence agency?

• If the two functions were separated, how would we ensure that those collecting intelligence
and those engaged in law enforcement activities shared information?

• What kind of oversight mechanisms would have to be created to prevent the kinds of
excesses of the past if a separate agency were established?

If the current structure is adequate, what recommendations would you would make in other
areas to enhance domestic intelligence capabilities in order to prevent future terrorist attacks?

FBI Organization and Personnel

The FBI has traditionally been a decentralized agency that granted considerable autonomy to
the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of each field office. Is a more centralized model with less
field office autonomy necessary for an effective domestic intelligence agency?

As currently structured and staffed, is the FBI capable of shifting from its traditional law
enforcement/reactive mode to a more intelligence driven/preventive mode? For example, arrest
and prosecution may not be the optimum immediate response to evidence of terrorist activity;
surveillance and monitoring to identify co-conspirators and gain information about other
terrorist plots may be advisable. Will the FBI, with its history and tradition as a law
enforcement agency, be able to make these strategic judgments?
What role should intelligence analysts play within the FBI?

• Is the "agent-centered" culture of the FBI conducive/receptive to intelligence collection and

analysis?

• Can and should the FBI evolve into an organization where agents accept intelligence
collection taskings and priorities from non-agents?

Does the FBI as presently organized and staffed have the requisite analytical resources and
expertise to support an effective domestic intelligence function? If not, how should it go about
recruiting, hiring and retaining the appropriate personnel?

Is it feasible to expect FBI agents to be both criminal law enforcement investigators and
domestic intelligence collectors? Are different skills and training required for each role?

Coordination Issues

Is the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) structure the most appropriate to ensure the sharing of
domestic threat information among state, local and federal law enforcement and other U.S.
intelligence entities? If so, why are several states putting in place regional intelligence centers?

What impact has the proliferation of counterterrorism analytical centers such as the Terrorism
Threat Integration Center (TTIC), the FBI's Counterterrorism Analysis Section, the Department
of Homeland Security's Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate, the
Northern Command, and the Joint Intelligence Task Force Combating Terrorism (JITF - CT)
had on the country's current counterterrorism posture?

Does the Terrorist Threat Integration Center have the proper charter? Should certain oversight
mechanisms for TTIC be required in law?

Since the passage of the National Security Act of 1947, there has been a division of authority
and operations between domestic and foreign intelligence activities. Does this division still
make sense in the post-9/11 world of multinational fundamentalist terrorist groups, such as al
Qaeda, with the objective of attacking U.S. interests both abroad and inside this country?