Statement of Ellen E. McCarthy
Nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State Intelligence and Research
Submitted to Senate Select Committee Intelligence
July 25, 2018

Chairman Burr, Ranking Member Warner, members of the Committee, I am honored to appear
before you today.
I am pleased to be joined by members of my family; my husband for over 22 years Gordon
Hannah, who has always been my biggest supporter and best friend. We are joined by our
remarkable children, Liam and Eileen Hannah, of whom I am immensely proud. They inspire me
to be a better person, a better citizen and a better servant.
I also want to recognize my esteemed colleague, Admiral Joe Maguire, the nominee for Director
National Counterterrorism Center, a true patriot who had an incredibly distinguished career in
the naval special warfare community and continues to serve today as the President and CEO of
the Special Operations Foundation. Joe, I am thrilled to spend this moment with you.
I want to thank President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for their confidence and trust and for
providing me the opportunity to again serve our country. If confirmed, I would be most proud to
lead the women and men of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and to work with the
agencies in the U.S. intelligence community in support of the mission of the Department of State.
Over the last few weeks I have been asked about why I would want to return to government?
The answer is simple. I am motivated by service and working hard, and I am passionate about
the intelligence community and its role in securing this great nation. I also believe that if
confirmed my broad Intelligence Community experience and deep expertise in the business of
intelligence can help the Bureau of Intelligence and Research grow its impact on the mission of
the State Department.
The call to serve and work ethic is embedded in my DNA. My father, a former tax attorney and
college professor, worked until the day he died. He was a brilliant lawyer, whose motivation
was not salary, but helping people with their tax problems, or teaching and mentoring young
people interested in pursuing degrees in accounting and taxation. My mother, to this day is
always looking to the future and identifying things she can do to help – whether it is volunteering
at the polls, serving in nursing homes, leading her local communities’ beautification efforts.
Their experience inspired me to start working at age 13 and my first jobs included delivering
newspapers, waiting tables, and tending bars. Self-actualization for me was doing a great job
and making others happy.
My passion for the Intelligence Community was almost immediate. I started as a Soviet
submarine analyst during the Cold War, and learned very quickly about the value of good
intelligence. I will never forget the feedback I received from a mission commander when he
indicated that the mission was a success because of the support I had provided. It was absolutely
cathartic, and from that moment on I was hooked. Even today, I want to be a part of a

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community that informs policy makers, supports diplomats, warfighters, and law enforcement
professionals to do their jobs better. The better the IC is at its job, the better my family, I and our
country can sleep at night knowing that our country is secure.
If confirmed, I will bring with me this same desire to serve, plus more than thirty years of service
across the IC and the private sector. When I started in government in the late 1980s, people were
hired by one organization and there they stayed. My career followed a different path, one that
has provided me a broad understanding of the intelligence mission as well as deep expertise in
the business of intelligence to include people, requirements, budget, vision and strategy. I have
spent a career taking organizations to a new level.
My career started in the Navy as an all source analyst, first at the Office of Naval Intelligence
and later as the Deputy Director for Analysis at the Atlantic Intelligence Command. My very
satisfying career in analysis took a turn when the United States Coast Guard recruited me to help
build their intelligence collection capabilities and ultimately take the lead in a campaign to gain
and later implement Coast Guard membership in the IC. Following this successful campaign, I
was asked to help stand up the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. There,
I took the lead in two important areas: advising the Under Secretary on implementation of the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and its impact on the defense
intelligence components; and development and implementation of the Defense Intelligence
Civilian Personnel System -- a system still in place today to manage the performance of the
civilian workforce.
After government, I had the honor of serving as President of the Intelligence and National
Security Alliance (INSA), the IC’s think tank and a forum for collaboration among the public,
private and academic sectors. INSA brings together experts in and out of government to
identify, develop and promote practical and creative solutions to national security problems such
as acquisition reform, personnel security, insider threat, and cyber security. This was one of my
proudest achievements, not because it was fiscally stronger when I left than when I started, but
because I worked with incredible colleagues across the private sector and academia who play a
critical role in the IC’s success. From INSA, I returned to government to assist the Director of
the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in leading the agency’s operations with a special
focus on realigning budget, requirements, and people to implement the Director’s vision.
Most recently, I am the Vice President for Intelligence and Analytics at Noblis, a nonprofit
organization that provides scientific and technical solutions to the national security sectors
toughest problems, and first serving as the President of a subsidiary organization. Not only is
our business thriving, but I have expanded my understanding of the tools and capabilities that
analysts need to succeed and be secure in a digital environment.
Ultimately, throughout my career my overarching drive has been the people. Whether the people
to whom I delivered newspapers on my route as a teenager, the policy makers in government
who I briefed on current intelligence, or the future leaders of the IC who I have mentored over
the years. My inspiration comes from the professional and talented workforce of this dedicated
intelligence community.

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I am thrilled at the prospect of returning to government in support of Secretary Pompeo and the
State Department and will leverage my broad experience inside and outside government, and the
critical relationships I have developed through my career. I will place a special focus on
growing INR’s impact on the State Department mission. The Bureau of Intelligence and
Research has a long and very proud history in providing in-depth all-source analysis, intelligence
policy and coordination and analytic outreach that has guided our nation’s foreign policy. With
its unique mix of Foreign Service and Civil Service professionals, it plays an out-sized role in the
Intelligence Community.
If confirmed, I will work hard to ensure that INR continues to recruit and train the highest quality
and diverse staff and make it my first priority to provide them with the tools and resources they
need to continue to provide value to the Secretary and Department policymakers. Equally
important, I will vigorously defend the integrity of the analytical process to ensure independence
and unbiased analysis, the INR brand. I will be vigilant in that intelligence and sensitive
intelligence-related law enforcement activities are consistent with, and support, our foreign
policy and national security objectives. Finally, I will leverage my experience in the intelligence
community – both inside and outside of government – to enhance INR’s IC analytic outreach
efforts, with a focus on building upon INR’s well established expertise in foreign policy and
intelligence issues.
Mr. Chairman, Vice Chairman Warner, if confirmed, I will bring extensive experience across the
IC and the private sector, a passion to serve, and relevant skills to the position of Assistant
Secretary for Intelligence and Research. I will work tirelessly to ensure that INR continues to
provide the President, the Secretary of State and other senior policy makers with timely,
independent intelligence analysis and that our intelligence activities support our foreign policy
and national security objectives. Thank you for your consideration. I am happy to answer any
questions you may have.

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