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Dr. Stacey A. Dixon
Nominee for Principal Deputy Director for National Intelligence
Statement for the Record
Chairman Warner, Vice Chairman Rubio, and distinguished Members of the Committee.
It is an honor to appear before you, as the nominee for Principal Deputy Director of National
Intelligence. I am grateful to President Biden for his nomination and to Director Haines for
her recommendation. I also want to recognize and thank Sue Gordon for her kind words and
support. To borrow a geospatial term, she has been a North Star for many of us within the
Intelligence Community; I appreciate her leadership and mentorship.
There is also no way I would be before you today without the encouragement and support of
my family and friends. I would like to recognize and thank my parents. My father, a retired
judge and my mother a retired telecommunications vice president, my brother and sister-inlaw, an engineer and scientist, respectively; my Intelligence Community (IC) colleagues, and
members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Family, friends, colleagues and classmates are
the village that lifts me up, grounds me, and prays for me regularly. I am grateful for their
presence and constant support.
I am a testament to the fact that encouragement matters. My parents taught me not to limit
myself or constrain what I thought I could accomplish. My teachers had high expectations of
me and challenged me to excel. My bosses gave me opportunities to learn, to take risks, and
to grow. My peers give me regular feedback that inspires me to grow as a leader.
To give you some insight into my journey – I joined the Intelligence Community during the
recession of 2002. What I needed most at the time was a job. My post-doctoral fellowship
ended at a time when employment offers were scarce, even for a Ph.D. in Mechanical
Engineering. What I received is a nearly 20-year career full of opportunity, excitement, and
service. I learned early on that being an intelligence officer is much more than a job. I value
the opportunity to serve my country, support national security, and work with some of the
most talented individuals in government, industry, and academia. My colleagues, the
intelligence officers who serve our country, embody the IC core values of Excellence,
Courage, Respect, and Integrity.
During my career, I have had the privilege of serving in both the legislative branch and
executive branch. Within the legislative branch, I worked for the U.S. House of
Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as a professional staff
member and then budget director. There, in partnership with this committee, I learned the
importance of oversight, authorizations and appropriations, and considering the community
as a whole rather than as individual agencies.
Within the executive branch, I gained direct experience working for four of the 18 elements
of the Intelligence Community: CIA, NRO, NGA, and ODNI. I learned how to turn mission
needs into technical specifications and then validate the results. I learned about the
importance of communicating at all levels, especially during a crisis. I saw how research &
development solves hard technical challenges. In my current role as NGA’s deputy director, I

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see daily that it is our people and partners that allow us to succeed today while preparing for
tomorrow’s mission. I am so proud to help lead the immensely talented women and men of
the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. I know there are equally talented women and
men in the ODNI and in all of the other departments and agencies that comprise the U.S.
Intelligence Community.
The challenges and threats Director Haines discussed during the Annual Threat Assessment
hearing require, more than ever, an integrated community approach. The IC’s mission is to
collect, process, analyze, exploit, and disseminate information. To do that well as a
community, we will have to embrace new approaches to enable mission, while also
protecting privacy and civil liberties. The IC will have to further harness accelerating
technological change – from wherever it originates – to keep pace and evolve. There are
increasingly sophisticated threats and the nature of conflicts continues to shift. We must
identify gaps in our understanding and bring to bear all of the Intelligence Community’s
expertise against the current threats, while being mindful of emerging disruptive trends and
posturing the nation to be competitive against them in the future.
During her confirmation hearing, Director Haines outlined three priorities: strengthen the
institution, align work and resources to major threats, and build partnerships. If confirmed, I
look forward to working with Director Haines and this committee to implement these
priorities. To that end, I will leverage my background and experience to help integrate the
IC’s efforts and drive collaboration, innovation, agility, and diversity and inclusion.
The PDDNI’s role is more than a manager, more than a leader; the PDDNI is a problem
solver and bridge-builder. There is great strength in intelligence disciplines coming together
to solve enduring problems and counter the threats we face. If confirmed, I look forward to
continuing to serve with the women and men of the Intelligence Community and the larger
national security enterprise, which also includes academia, industry, international partners,
the American people, and Congress. I look forward to focusing our efforts on protecting and
preserving our nation’s prosperity, influence, and those universal values articulated in our
Constitution. I am confident that my experiences have prepared me to assist the Director in
leading the Intelligence Community and if confirmed, I will gratefully continue serving my
country.
It is truly my honor to appear before you today, and I thank you for your consideration of my
nomination. I look forward to answering your questions.

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