Knouss, Director, Office of Emergency Preparedness is from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Thank you all for coming and for your patience. Now that you're all comfortably settled, would you please stand again? Raise your right hands.

[Witnesses sworn.]

Mr. SOUDER. Let the record show that the witnesses answered in the affirmative.

Mr. Blitzer, would you please proceed?

STATEMENTS OF ROBERT M. BLITZER, SECTION CHIEF, DOMESTIC TERRORISM/COUNTERTERRORISM PLANNING SECTION, NATIONAL SECURITY DIVISION, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ACCOMPANIED BY MICHAEL J. DALICH, CHIEF OF STAFF, OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE; CHARLES L. CRAGIN, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR RESERVE AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; JAMES Q. ROBERTS, PRINCIPAL DIRECTOR FOR POLICY AND MISSIONS, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS AND LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, AND ROBERT KNOUSS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Mr. BLITZER. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Barrett, staff. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today regarding the FBI's role in the preparedness of this Nation to deal with terrorism, including that which involves weapons of mass destruction.

This morning I will focus on three specific areas: First, the domestic WMD threat and the threat posed to this country by international terrorists here. Second, I'll provide an overview of the current interagency initiatives to establish a National Domestic Preparedness Office. Finally, I'll comment on the Government Accounting Office report concerning the value of the threat and risk assess

ments.

During the past 2 years we have responded, along with our crisis and consequence management partners, to a growing number of domestic WMD threats and incidents. These incidents have been carried out primarily by two categories of violators which we identify as lone offenders and extremist elements of right-wing groups.

Typical lone offenders fit into one or more categories; for example, those seeking revenge; those who are mentally unstable; those who belong to violent extremist elements, usually splinters of those elements, and those who intend to disrupt our Government activities and our emergency response modes through the use of pranks or hoaxes.

Although most of the threats we've handled over the past 3 years have proven not to have endangered the public safety, investigative, emergency and medical personnel respond seriously to each and every incident. The impact of these responses is both costly and disruptive.

The current international terrorist threat really can be divided into three general categories. I think Mr. Johnson's definition was quite on the money. I would only add to his description that, al

though we're seeing fewer attacks, we're seeing a lot of people hurt during specific attacks. This is, of course, of great concern to us. The first category of threat stems from State sponsors. State sponsors include the countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, and North Korea. Put simply, these nations view terrorism as a tool of foreign policy and many of these countries do have WMD capabilities, or at least are working hard on them.

The second category of international terrorist threat is made up of formalized terrorist organizations, such as the Hizballah, the Egyptian Al-Gama Al-Islamiyya, and the Palestinian Hamas. They're able to plan and mount terrorist campaigns on an international basis.

The third category of international terrorist threats stems from loosely affiliated extremists characterized by rogue terrorists such as Ramzi Ahmed Yousef of the World Trade Center and international terrorist financier Osama Bin Ladin. These loosely affiliated extremists may pose the most serious threat to the United States because they are often difficult for law enforcement and the intelligence community to penetrate or tract. They also can exploit the mobility, the technology, and rapid transportation, and a fluid organizational structure.

The FBI believes that the threat posed by international terrorists in each of these categories will continue for the foreseeable future. In the face of these threats, the Federal Government, through the Domestic Preparedness Program, has elevated the awareness of the Nation's first responders with the possibility of WMD terrorism. Federal, State, and local responders now participate in a cooperative dialog and have come to realize that an effective response to terrorism requires a unified approach by all relevant authorities.

Our Special Agents-in-Charge across the country-as you know, we're located in 56 different field divisions, as well as over 400 resident agencies have undertaken new responsibilities to coordinate beyond the traditional law enforcement community efforts and to begin useful purposeful liaison with members of the fire/hazmat emergency medical and consequence planning community. Through the execution of this program, we and our interagency partners have placed the utmost importance upon delivering a program that will enhance capabilities of first responders to safely and effectively respond to a terrorist incident.

To specifically solicit first responder input-and this has been fairly recent the Department of Justice convened a State and local stakeholders' forum here in Washington, DC. This was from the entire crisis and consequence management community-police, fire, Office of Emergency Preparedness, et cetera. More than 200 State and local emergency response planners and practitioners from across the Nation were invited to discuss current and Federal domestic preparedness efforts and to present their suggestions to the Attorney General. They asked that a single point of contact, onestop shopping, as someone on the prior panel mentioned, be designated for the various initiatives that provide training, equipment, or other assistance for terrorist and preparedness for both State and local authorities. They specifically proposed that the Department of Justice become responsible for the overall implementation of terrorism-related domestic preparedness programs and activities.

Because of the strong recommendations of the State and local stakeholders, the Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, and the Director of FEMA have personally engaged in a process to transition the responsibility for the Domestic Preparedness Program to the Department of Justice. Additionally, the Office of Management and Budget is working closely with all parties in support of this

transition.

DOJ's proposed coordinating structure will incorporate input from the Federal agencies with responsibilities in WMD terrorism and create an informal advisory relationship with first responder stakeholders. The actual detail and structure in staffing of the proposed national office are being involved within the interagency community.

I've been requested to comment specifically on the value of conducting the threat and the risk assessments for cities or designated geographic areas prior to providing training and equipment loans. The FBI's response letter of March 4, 1998 to Mr. Davis of the GAO provides our position on the threat and risk assessment issue. In brief, threat and risk assessments will add value to the overall domestic preparedness effort. We think that a pilot project to test the threat and risk assessment process should be done. In the near future, we will attempt to adapt and test a model for use in the cities and other local areas, a threat and risk model.

Also, in association with other Federal, State, and local authorities, we intend to explore existing threat and risk methodologies that may be helpful in better determining the training and equipment requirements of our first responder community across the Nation. The mission of the FBI's counterterrorism preparedness program supports the U.S. counterterrorism effort by increasing the capacity of Federal, State, and local crisis and consequence management agencies, to respond to any threats or acts of terrorism in the United States. The FBI is confident that, through the National Domestic Preparedness Office, we can support this mission. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Blitzer follows:]

OCTOBER 2, 1998

GOOD MORNING, THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS MEMBERS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF

INVESTIGATION'S ROLE IN THE PREPAREDNESS OF THIS NATION TO DEAL WITH TERRORISM, INCLUDING THAT WHICH INVOLVES WEAPONS OF MASS

DESTRUCTION.

THIS MORNING I WILL FOCUS ON THREE SPECIFIC AREAS. FIRST, I WILL BRIEFLY DISCUSS THE DOMESTIC WMD THREAT AND THE THREAT POSED TO THIS COUNTRY BY INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS HERE AT HOME.

SECOND, I WILL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF CURRENT INTERAGENCY INITIATIVES TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS OFFICE. FINALLY, I WILL COMMENT ON THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING OFFICE REPORT CONCERNING THE VALUE OF THREAT AND RISK ASSESSMENTS.

I HAVE SUBMITTED A WRITTEN STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD WHICH

FURTHER DETAILS MY TESTIMONY HERE TODAY.

DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS, WE HAVE RESPONDED, ALONG WITH OUR CRISIS AND CONSEQUENCE PARTNERS, TO A GROWING NUMBER OF DOMESTIC WMD THREATS AND INCIDENTS.

THESE INCIDENTS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT PRIMARILY BY TWO CATEGORIES OF VIOLATORS WHICH WE IDENTIFY AS "LONE OFFENDERS" AND "EXTREMIST ELEMENTS OF RIGHT WING GROUPS."

WHILE THE MAJORITY OF THESE WMD THREATS WERE HOAXES, THE

NUMBER OF CREDIBLE THREATS AND INCIDENTS IN 1998 HAS SIGNIFICANTLY

INCREASED OVER THOSE OF PREVIOUS YEARS.

IN 1997, WE INITIATED 68 NEW INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE USE OR THREATENED USE OF CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, RADIOLOGICAL OR NUCLEAR MATERIALS. AS OF SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR, THE FBI HAS OPENED IN EXCESS OF 86 SIMILAR INVESTIGATIONS.

WE HAVE RESPONDED TO ACTUAL INCIDENTS IN BOTH URBAN AND RURAL AREAS; FROM CHARLOTTE TO LOS ANGELES, AND FROM MADISON TO DALLAS.

THE TYPICAL "LONE OFFENDERS" FIT INTO ONE OR MORE

CATEGORIES, SUCH AS:

1) THOSE SEEKING REVENGE FOR INDIVIDUAL GRIEVANCES OR VENDETTAS AGAINST OTHER CITIZENS;

2) THOSE WHO ARE MENTALLY UNSTABLE;

3) THOSE WHO BELONG TO VIOLENT EXTREMIST ELEMENTS AND BELIEVE IN THE VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT;

4) AND FINALLY THERE ARE THOSE WHOM WE CALL "DISRUPTERS," WHOSE INTENT IS TO FORCE THE GOVERNMENT INTO AN "EMERGENCY RESPONSE MODE" WITH PRANK WMD THREATS.

ALTHOUGH MANY OF THESE THREATS ULTIMATELY PROVE NOT TO ENDANGER THE PUBLIC SAFETY, INVESTIGATIVE, EMERGENCY, AND MEDICAL PERSONNEL RESPOND SERIOUSLY TO EACH AND EVERY INCIDENT. THE