I ought to visit the CIA on a snowy day. Thank you for that warm welcome. I wanted to come here today for two reasons. First, to meet you and to thank you, those of you who work for the Central Intelligence Agency who devote your lives and your skills to the service of our country. The second thing I wanted to do was to commemorate those who have given their lives in the service of the country through the Central Intelligence Agency.
Intelligence is a unique mission.
Nobody knows that better than those of us who have the honor to serve in the Oval Office. Every morning the President begins the day asking what happened overnight. What do we know, how do we know it. Like my predecessors, I have to look to the intelligence community for the answers to those questions. I look to you to warn me and, through me, our nation of the threats, to spotlight the important trends in the world, to describe dynamics that could affect our interests around the world.