Christopher A. Wray

Technology has made life much easier for the good guy - there's no doubt.

As the threat to harm the United States and U.S. interests evolves, we must adapt and confront these challenges, relying heavily on the strength of our federal, state, local, and international partnerships.

All too often, vital electronic evidence has been made unavailable through encryption that doesn't allow for execution of legal process including court-approved search warrants.

I left DOJ's leadership back in 2005. At the time, we were still building our national security capabilities in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. And we'd made a lot of progress.

Our adversaries - terrorists, foreign intelligence services, and criminals - take advantage of modern technology to hide their communications; recruit followers; and plan, conduct, and encourage espionage, cyber attacks, or terrorism to disperse information on different methods to attack the U.S. homeland and to facilitate other illegal activities.

The FBI relies on FISA every day in national security investigations to prevent terrorists and foreign intelligence services from harming the United States.

The inability to access evidence or intelligence despite the lawful authority to do so significantly impacts the FBI's ability to identify, investigate, prosecute, or otherwise deter criminals, terrorists, and other offenders.

Every time I attend an FBI graduation for new agents or new analysts at Quantico, a significant number of those graduates are former state and local officers, and I have the privilege of shaking their hands, presenting them with their credentials, and welcoming them to the FBI family.