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Working as FBI Director for the past seven years has given me an unparalleled view of the threats to our nation’s security. public safety and national security. From where I sit, these threats are more dangerous and complex than any I can remember since I began my career in law enforcement nearly thirty years ago.
Our adversaries – whether violent gangs, child predators, cartels, hackers, hostile nation states or terrorists – are more powerful, better resourced, more skilled with technology and more ruthless than ever before. With the push of a button, a foreign hacker can close a hospital or take our critical infrastructure offline. A potential terrorist could communicate with overseas conspirators through encrypted apps to secretly plan an attack on U.S. soil. Cartels can manufacture masses of deadly drugs with a power no one has ever seen, using chemicals sourced half the world away.
The terrorist threat has been increased across the board. Foreign terrorist organizations have taken inspiration from Hamas’s horrific Oct. 7 attacks to plot coordinated attacks here at home, while violent extremists, inspired by a variety of ideologies and grievances, are mobilizing faster than ever and leaving fewer points for investigators to get in touch with each other. time to connect them.
FBI Director WRAY REVEALS WHY HE RESIGNED DURING ‘SUCH A DANGEROUS TIME’
The tragedy in New Orleans on New Year’s Day is a recent illustration of the danger posed by individuals radicalized online who use easily accessible weapons to pursue soft targets – ordinary people in their everyday lives – making the terrorist threat even harder to detect , investigate, and disrupt.
Foreign adversaries like China, Russia and Iran aren’t just stealing government secrets, they’re directly targeting the American people and going after the things we rely on most. Hostile nation states are stealing Americans’ personal information on a staggering scale, committing widespread thefts at companies large and small, exporting their own forms of repression to our shores, and engaging in daring cyber operations targeting our critical infrastructure. The Chinese government in particular has made an unprecedented effort to undermine American innovation, steal our most valuable personal data, and interfere with our free and open society. History will mark this as the defining threat of our generation.
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In addition to terrorism and national threats, far too many communities continue to be plagued by violent crime, which has reached alarming levels in recent years. Cartels flood our country with fentanyl and other deadly drugs, claiming countless American lives every year. And child predators lurk in the dark corners of the internet, preying on the innocent and vulnerable.
From my seat I see serious threats from adults that require serious attention from adults. But I have also seen something else over the past seven years: the inspiring men and women of the FBIwho tackle these threats every day with passion, skill and a fierce commitment to public service and the rule of law. I have seen firsthand the work they are doing in record numbers, along with our brothers and sisters in state and local law enforcement and government, to keep our communities safe.
FBI Director WRAY REVEALS WHY HE RESIGNED DURING ‘SUCH A DANGEROUS TIME’
In recent years, working together, the FBI and our partners have arrested nearly 50 violent criminals per day. They have saved hundreds of children from their tormentors and put hundreds of predators behind bars. They have dismantled hundreds of gangs terrorizing neighborhoods across the country and seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly 80 percent of all Americans. They have innovated to counter emerging threats by taking on cybercriminals, saving victims around the world nearly $800 million in ransoms. And they have kept an eye on the ever-present threat of terrorism, with attacks against places of worship in Las Vegas, Long Beach and Pittsburgh, a busy pier in San Franciscoa 4th of July parade in Cleveland, and countless other communities across the country. I couldn’t be more proud of the work they’ve done and the sacrifices they’ve made to keep us all safe.
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Yet this is no time for complacency or distraction. Looking ahead, the challenges to our security will become even greater and our margin for error will continue to shrink. America’s adversaries will continue to try to take advantage of our country’s divisions to intensify their efforts against us. But our focus must be on the threats and our work, not on what divides us. We must continue to address the dangers facing our country with objectivity, accuracy and professionalism. It is what the American people expect and deserve.
I know the men and women of the FBI, working with our partners, are up to the task. But I also know that our future security depends on… The FBI is at its best. The FBI needs the resources to match what our adversaries have to offer, and the public’s continued support for its essential work. The stakes couldn’t be higher. We simply cannot afford to lose focus or be unprepared.
