Date: 2012-05-31
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the chairperson of the Intelligence Committee and the ranking member and speak in the spirit of bipartisanship. and I congratulate both gentlemen for recognizing that the security and intelligence of America speaks loudly to the idea of bipartisanship. Just a few hours ago. I was in a classified briefingfor fear of anyone thinking that I will share that classified briefing. I will not. But what I will say is it is clear that intelligence is a key to the peace and security that the American people have experienced since 9/11. Through the work of Members of Congress and the intelligence community. of which we owe a great deal of that gratitude. we have been able to. for now some 11 years plus on our soil. experience the safety and security. although we have had many attempts. For that reason. I believe this is important work. My amendment says that it is important for the Director to consider the necessary processes to increase the recruitment and training of ethnic minorities as officers and employees of the CIA. We have done this before. We have encouraged them to do so. And we can say that there have been gradual steps. And we applaud that. But the men and women who conduct this important work certainly deserve our support and all of the resources that we can muster to make sure they are successful in their endeavors. Yet we also ensure that the CIA itself reflects the American population and that of the world. Having agents who can be deployed anywhere at any time is vital to our national security. as well as the ability to interact with foreign nationals who speak the language is truly important. A diverse workforce can make America safer and more secure. Historically. theres been an exclusion of minorities. particularly African Americans and Latinos. in the highest levels of national security. Lets continue to break that barrier. Its taken decades for minorities to make inroads into Americas national security apparatus. And I know that this is a sense of Congress. but I always have faith that people will adhere to a positive statement by this body. Although the number of CIA employees remains a classified secret. the Agency has released some numbers over the years. In 1966. blacks represented 10 percent of the CIAs total workforce and only 3 percent of the Agencys officers in senior intelligence service. whereas 17 percent of the clerical staff and 22 percent of the Agencys blue collar workforce was African American. Over this past weekend. we commemorated. mourned. and celebrated our fallen soldiers. I had the privilege of having uncles who went off to war in World War II. one who served as a chief petty officer in the United States Navy. That was the integrated United States Navy. I can tell you that we are better for it when we utilize the talents of all Americans. In 1992. a declassified study of CIA personnel found that about half of all black intelligence officers reported that they had been victims of racial harassment by the Agency. As of today. of the CIAs core of case officers. which is believed to number more than 1.000. only 11 percent are minorities and 18 percent are women. The majority of the Agencys top managers are still predominantly nonminorities. According to CIA officials. onethird of the new operations officers hired in 2011 have been women. while just 11 percent have been minorities. as traditionally defined: African Americans. Asian Americans. or Latinos. Twenty percent of all new operations officers are native speakers of a foreign language and 75 percent have advanced proficiency in foreign languages. many because theyve lived abroad. Almost half have advanced degrees. I applaud that and I truly believe. as some may be listening and saying. Arent we are all Americans? Yes. we are. If we are all Americans. then our CIA. one of our most storied Agencies. needs to join and continue to recruit and improve on bringing in the diverse picture of the face of America because well be better for it. When President Truman integrated the United States military. we became better for it. We celebrate all people who are willing to put the Nations uniform on and die for their country. Likewise. for this wonderful intelligence Agency. we do the same. With that. I ask my colleagues to support my amendment. and I reserve the balance of my time.