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President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
Introduction | Role | History |
Operations | Product
Executive Order |
PFIAB Report
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Appendix
Introduction
The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) provides advice
to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection,
of analysis and estimates, of counterintelligence, and of other intelligence
activities. The PFIAB, through its Intelligence Oversight
Board, also advises the President on the legality of foreign intelligence
activities.
Operating under Executive Order 12863 signed
by President Clinton on September 13, 1993, the PFIAB currently has
eleven members selected from among distinguished citizens outside the
government who are qualified on the basis of achievement, experience and
independence.
Warren Rudman, the chairman, currently
heads the board.
The Role of The Board
Unique within the government, the PFIAB has traditionally been tasked
with providing the President with an independent source of advice on the
effectiveness with which the intelligence community is meeting the
nation's intelligence needs and the vigor and insight with which the
community plans for the future.
The History Of The Board
The Board was established in 1956 by President Eisenhower and was
originally called the President's Board of Consultants on Foreign
Intelligence Activities. It gained its current name under President
Kennedy and it has served all Presidents since that time except for
President Carter. A record of previous
chairpersons is available.
For nearly four decades the PFIAB has acted as a nonpartisan body
offering the President objective, expert advice on the conduct of U.S.
foreign intelligence. This role reflects the vital assistance that
intelligence provides the President in meeting his executive
responsibilities. The President must have ample, accurate and timely
intelligence; and most recent Presidents have sought the assistance of a
separate, unbiased group -- the PFIAB -- to advise them on intelligence
matters.
PFIAB Operations
Through meetings with intelligence principals, substantive briefings,
and visits to intelligence installations, the PFIAB seeks to identify
deficiencies in the collection, analysis, and reporting of intelligence;
to eliminate unnecessary duplication and functional overlap; and to
ensure that major programs are responsive to clearly perceived needs and
that the technology employed represents the product of the best minds and
technical capabilities available in the nation.
PFIAB Product
Independent of the intelligence community and free from any day-to-day
management or operational responsibilities, the PFIAB is able to render
advice which reflects an objective view of the kinds of intelligence that
will best serve the country and the organizational structure most likely
to achieve this goal. The effect of the Board's recommendations over the
years has been to influence the composition and structure of the
intelligence community, the development of major intelligence systems,
and the degree of collection and analytic emphasis that is given to
substantive areas.
In carrying out their mandate, the members of the PFIAB enjoy the
confidence of the President and have access to all the information
related to foreign intelligence that they need to fulfill their vital
advisory role.
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