Excerpt from Worldwide Intelligence Review: Hearing Before the Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate One Hundred Fourth Congress, First Session on Worldwide Intelligence Review, Tuesday, January 10, 1995

It is fitting that the Committee meets publicly today to begin its work for the lo4th session by hearing the Director of Central Intelligence's views on the most important issue for our country - the national security threats to the United States. These threats play an important role in defining our country's foreign policy - they form the foundation for all our military, foreign policy, and economic planning. It is therefore essential that the Intelligence Community provide our nation's policy makers with the most accurate and timely assessment of these threats as possible.

When I first came to the Senate 14 years ago, this oversight committee was still in its infancy. At that time, the u.s.-soviet military and political rivalry was the prism through which American policymakers viewed most - if not all - national secu rity issues. Needless to say, times have changed. The Cold War is over - and with it, the underlying assumptions that have guided America's national security infra structure for almost half a century. Yet despite the fact that the Berlin Wall was torn down years ago, the us. National security establishment is still in the process of redefining its mission.

Along with this dilemma, the Intelligence Community is increasingly being forced to justify its budget - and therefore its role - in public. This pressure for greater openness will persist for a long time to come. And this, I believe, is as it should be. To the fullest extent consistent with the protection of sensitive sources and methods, Americans should be made aware of what the Intelligence Community is capable of accomplishing. I believe that it is a success story that, to a great extent, can and should be told. This public hearing is conducted in this spirit of educating the American public about the vital role intelligence plays.

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