FBI and DOJ Unveil Procedures to Improve National Security Oversight

Plans were announced by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Kenneth Wainstein, and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller for a series of extensive procedures that will greatly improve national security oversight and compliance at the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Key components of this oversight endeavor are the initiation of two offices to conduct reviews, compliance activities, and training. The first is an Oversight Section inside the National Security Division of the Department of Justice and the second is an Office of Integrity and Compliance at the FBI.

These two programs conducted by the Oversight Section of the National Security Division and the Office of Integrity and Compliance of the FBI will take priority over the Justice Department's continuing endeavors to guarantee the rights and privacy of U.S. Citizens.

Attorney General Gonzales said, "The top priority of the Department is to protect the nation from terrorist attack. At the same time, we have an important obligation to make sure the tools we use to prevent terrorism also protect the civil liberties of our citizens. This effort helps us achieve these objectives by enhancing internal controls over the Department's national security activities.

"The changes we are announcing today are historic in nature." Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said. "The FBI is instituting one of the first, agency-wide internal compliance programs in the federal government, and, for the first time, Justice Department attorneys will have a comprehensive mandate to examine all aspects of the FBI's national security program for compliance with laws, regulations, and guidelines."