Experience is a good teacher.
I stand on the shoulders of heroines who never sought public acclaim but served as inspirations to the generations that came after them.
People often ask CIA Directors what keeps them up at night. Between rogue WMD programs, cyber threats, terrorist organizations, great power rivalries, and other global threats, there's bound to be more than a single reason I'm losing sleep on any given night.
When a very tough, old school leader announced that I was his pick to be Chief of Station in a small but important frontier post, a few competitors complained to me directly 'why would they send you?' I owe that leader much for believing in me at a time when few women were given these opportunities.
Within the Intelligence Community, CIA is the keeper of the human intelligence mission. Technical forms of collection are vital, but a good human source is unique and can deliver decisive intelligence on our adversaries' secrets - even their intent.
My childhood overseas instilled in me an appreciation for foreign languages and cultures, but also a deep understanding of the vital role of American leadership in confronting aggression abroad.
I know CIA like the back of my hand.
From my first days in training, I had a knack for the nuts and bolts of my profession.
When developing intelligence assessments, initial tactical reports often require additional collection and validation.
I was born in Kentucky and, while my family has deep roots there, I was an Air Force brat, and we followed my father to postings all over the world.
Because of what happened on 9/11, a lot of our resources, our money and our people were dedicated to the terrorism fight.
The American people and our allies around the world can rely on CIA's vigilance, excellence, and determination to proudly serve.
After 9/11, I didn't look to go sit on the Swiss desk - I stepped up. I was not on the sidelines.
I would not put C.I.A. officers at risk by asking them to undertake risky, controversial activity again.
As both a career intelligence officer and as an American citizen, I am a strong believer in the importance of oversight. Simply put, experience has taught us that CIA cannot be effective without the people's trust, and we cannot hope to earn that trust without the accountability that comes with Congressional oversight.
If we cannot share aspects of our secret work with the public, we should do so with their elected representatives. For CIA oversight is a vital link to the open society we defend. It's a defining feature of the U.S. intelligence community and one of the many things that distinguishes us from the hostile services we face in the field.
I think it is important to recall the context of those challenging times immediately following 9/11. For me, I had just returned to Washington from an overseas posting and I reported for duty on the morning of 9/11. I knew in my gut when I saw the video of the first plane hitting the tower in Manhattan that it was bin Laden.
My moral compass is strong.
I excelled in finding and acquiring secret information that I obtained in brush passes, dead drops, or in meetings in dusty alleys of third world capitals.
It is very important that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency adhere to the same classification guidelines that all employees must adhere to because there are very good reason for those classification guidelines.
