Summary

Attorney General John Ashcroft is asking Congress for expanded surveillance authority in the ongoing investigation into last Tuesday's attacks FBI Director Mueller warns that hate crimes against Arab Americans will be prosecuted

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 269601
Story Slug JUSTICE AND FBI BRIEFING ABOUT SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY (2001)
Location WASHINGTON
Format TVD
Date 09/17/2001
Archive Time 20:37
TRT 4:45
Video Description Ashcroft and Mueller at podium w/ cuts
Description Attorney General John Ashcroft is asking Congress for expanded surveillance authority in the ongoing investigation into last Tuesday's attacks FBI Director Mueller warns that hate crimes against Arab Americans will be prosecuted
Script (SUGGESTED TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO) 00:01 W W wifbccfbigov In an effort to assist the FBI with manpower, I have directed the US Marshal Service to assign more than 300 deputy marshals to provide needed assistance to FBI field offices These deputy marshals will be assigned to the various locations across the country to augment and enhance the ongoing investigation and the responsibilities we have While the FBI has always had a law enforcement presence in the air, the Department of Transportation has decided to expand our country's law enforcement capacities in that respect Each day as flights increase, we will be adding additional enforcement officials from the Department of Justice as air marshals on planes in addition to the already heightened security on the ground in airports These additional law enforcement officials from various federal agencies are being assigned to the FAA to ensure aircraft passenger safety Yesterday I met with that we will address in the proposal Under intelligence gathering We want to provide additional tools to collect intelligence on terrorists, including expanded electronic surveillance, search authority, and the ability to identify, seize and forfeit terrorist assets to specific changes we have proposed, particularly given the mobility of individuals and the capacity of individuals who are mobile to communicate This is a reasonable upgrade in our opportunity to help us curtail and combat the threat I want to assure you that in our effort to make sure that law enforcement can gain the intelligence that it needs in order to protect America We are also mindful of our responsibility to protect the rights and privacy of Americans within the area of criminal justice, we want to make sure that our laws conveyed rhymes Second, we feel it is imperative to make sure that terrorism is made the same same kind of priority, that we would be able to fight with the same kind of integrity and equally strong tools that other crimes are subjected to For example, we are identified, 03:02 many of these criminal acts have been directed at Muslim houses of worship and Muslim community centers And I'll make it very clear vigilante attacks and threats against Arab Americans will not be tolerated We are all saddened by the recent acts of terrorism against our nation Such acts of retaliation and violate federal law, and more particularly run counter to the very principles of equality and freedom upon which our nation is founded The FBI and the Department of Justice are committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting violations of the federal hate crime laws We the date of initiate 14 material witness warrants it suffice it to say that there are a number of material witness warrants that have been issued They are sealed in most cases and I cannot give you direct numbers Yes sir 04:14 Patients that are looking for people to speak Farsi We have had a language shortage of shortage rate a period of time 04:38 F B igov In an effort to assist the FBI with manpower
Not everything listed in the CONUS Archive is necessarily licensable Reporter sound/image is not licensable

Keywords

9/11
911
TERRORIST ATTACK
}