Statement of Daniel Bennett Smith
Nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
December 17, 2013

Madam Chairman and Members of the Committee, it is a great honor to
appear before you today as President Obama’s nominee to be Assistant Secretary
of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). I am deeply grateful to
the President and to Secretary of State Kerry for their confidence in nominating me
for this position, as well as to the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper,
for his support of my nomination. If confirmed, I promise to work closely with
this Committee and pledge to keep it fully and currently informed as it carries out
its vital role in overseeing the U.S. Intelligence Community.
INR is a unique and invaluable asset both to the Department of State and to
the Intelligence Community. The Bureau has a long and celebrated history in
providing information and in-depth all-source analysis that have helped to guide
our nation’s foreign policy. INR’s strong reputation derives not from the size of its
staff or budget, but from the tremendous expertise and skills of its personnel.
Indeed, the Bureau has some of the greatest regional and subject matter expertise
anywhere in the U.S. Government. INR has approximately 200 analysts who have
an average of thirteen years of government and non-governmental professional

experience directly related to their current INR portfolio. Ninety-three percent of
INR analysts have graduate degrees. INR staff collectively speak more than 50
foreign languages, with most analysts having command of the relevant language or
languages in their respective portfolios.
This expertise rests principally with the Bureau’s outstanding Civil Servants
who have spent a considerable amount of their professional careers in INR. But
the Bureau also derives significant strength from a constant influx of Foreign
Service Officers with relevant experience in the field. If confirmed, I will work
hard to ensure that INR continues to recruit and retain the highest quality staff and
provides them with the training, professional development opportunities and
overseas experience they need to ensure the best possible analysis. Equally
important, I will vigorously defend the integrity of the analytical process to ensure
the independence and unbiased analysis for which INR is justly famous.
Madam Chairman, it is less well known but INR also plays a critical
function in assuring that intelligence and sensitive intelligence-related law
enforcement activities are consistent with, and support, our foreign policy and
national security objectives. The Bureau has a dedicated staff of professionals with
significant expertise in this area, which encompasses technical issues as well as
practical ones. They help define the Department’s intelligence requirements, seek
cleared language for use in diplomatic communications, ensure that Department

policymakers understand and can evaluate proposed intelligence activities with
potential foreign policy consequences, and support our Chiefs of Mission overseas.
I myself have direct experience in this regard, and, if confirmed, look forward to
helping the Bureau support the Secretary of State and the State Department in
assuring that foreign policy concerns are taken fully into consideration in the
decisions and activities of the Intelligence Community.
Madam Chairman, if confirmed, I believe I will bring extensive experience
and relevant skills to the position of Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and
Research. I have served successfully in a variety of demanding leadership
positions both in Washington and overseas, including most recently as Executive
Secretary of the State Department and as Ambassador to Greece. I know firsthand
the challenges facing senior policymakers as well as the incredible demands on
their time and attention. I thus appreciate INR’s critical role in providing the
President, the Secretary of State and other senior policymakers with timely,
independent and well-focused analysis on a broad range of regional and global
challenges.
Throughout the course of my thirty years as a Foreign Service Officer, I
have worked closely with members of the Intelligence Community, overseen and
coordinated intelligence and law enforcement activities, and witnessed firsthand
the role that intelligence and analysis can and should play in the formulation of

foreign policy. Like many of the professionals within INR, I also have a strong
academic background and appreciate very much the importance of drawing on the
insights and expertise found in our nation’s outstanding academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector. As a leader in the Department
and as a Chief of Mission abroad, I have also worked hard to enhance interagency
cooperation, to improve communication and information sharing, and to ensure
that we are working together to advance our national security. If confirmed,
Madam Chairman, I will work tirelessly to ensure that INR continues to make its
unique analytical contribution and continues to ensure that our intelligence
activities support our foreign policy and national security objectives. Thank you
for having me here today. I look forward to answering your questions.