News

USIS Washington 
File

04 August 1999

Fact Sheet: Security Improvements Since the East Africa Bombings

(Security improved at all U.S. missions abroad in past year)(800)

(This Fact Sheet was released by the State Department on August 4.)

(begin Fact Sheet)

U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman

August 4, 1999

Fact Sheet

Security Improvements Since the East Africa Bombings

The current terrorist threat to U.S. diplomatic facilities and
personnel overseas, as described in recent Congressional testimony, is
global, lethal, multi-dimensional, and growing. The threat is
generated by indigenous and transnational anti-American terrorist
groups and by state sponsors of terrorism. The last significant public
manifestation of this threat was the August 7, 1998 suicide attacks by
terrorists against the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam
that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

Since the East Africa bombings, the Department has intensified
measures to counter these terrorist threats. Extensive security
improvements have been made with the FY 1999 security supplemental
appropriation of $1.489 billion. In the last year, the Department's
Bureau of Diplomatic Security has conducted a comprehensive security
review of every U.S. diplomatic facility and security has been
improved at all of our missions abroad. While the USG does not divulge
security measures taken at specific locations, the State Department
has:

-- Sent Emergency Security Assessment Teams to 37 of our most
vulnerable posts to assess security needs and recommend immediate
security upgrades/actions;

-- Deployed more than 200 Diplomatic Security special agents overseas
on temporary assignment to augment security at our diplomatic
missions;

-- Dispatched Security Assistance Teams to threatened posts to
reinforce embassy perimeters and work closely with the mission's guard
force and host government officials until the threat has been
resolved;

-- Hired 4,000 new local guards to protect US missions abroad;

-- Worked closely with host governments to close streets or change
traffic patterns in front of US missions in a number of cities;

-- Worked closely with host governments to increase their security
presence at our facilities worldwide;

-- Acquired surrounding properties to increase the setbacks at more
than 30 posts;

-- Enhanced physical security at US missions with additional barriers,
blast walls, bomb detection units, walk-through metal detectors, x-ray
equipment, closed circuit television systems, video event recording
equipment, and full and light armored vehicles;

-- Established mandatory security inspections of all vehicles entering
US diplomatic facilities;

-- Strengthened the working relationship with the intelligence
community regarding assessment, investigation, and dissemination of
threat information directed at our posts abroad. Assigned additional
State Department personnel to various intelligence community agencies,
including the CIA Counter Terrorism Task Force as well as various FBI
Joint Terrorism Task Forces;

-- Hired and trained 337 new Diplomatic Security special agents,
security engineers, security technicians, diplomatic couriers, and
civil servants;

-- Established 140 new Diplomatic Security special agent positions
overseas;

-- Increased crisis management training programs overseas. One hundred
crisis management exercises for U.S. diplomatic missions abroad are
being conducted in 1999, and 100 more will be held in 2000. This
overseas training schedule, coupled with crisis management training
provided domestically, will help ensure that our personnel are fully
prepared to respond in future crisis situations.

Congressional Action To Date

We are working vigorously with the Congress to have appropriations for
the necessary resources for a multi-year security construction
program. On June 9, 1999, the President submitted an FY 2000 budget
amendment that will bring new embassy and post construction to $300
million (adding $264 million to the S36 million already set aside for
overseas facility construction). This will allow us to construct four
new diplomatic facilities and will allow for the design and purchase
of up to eight additional posts.

To this FY 2000 amount, the Administration is planning a 10-year
embassy security program, which through FY 2010, would spend nearly
$11.4 billion on embassy security and $8.4 billion on construction and
other elements of post security. At the program's peak, the
Administration will be seeking nearly $1.2 billion every year in new
money to protect Americans working abroad.

-- Both House and Senate authorization bills provide sufficient
funding to meet both our operating and capital investment security
requirements for FY 2000; in fact, both bodies authorized far more
than the request for the capital construction.

-- The House Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) Subcommittee fully funds the
President's FY 2000 request (initial request plus the amendment) but
not the $3.6 billion advance appropriation (FYs 2001-2005).

-- The Senate CJS Subcommittee results are less favorable on the
capital construction side because the budget amendment was received
after initial mark-up.

-- We intend to work aggressively through our legislative staff, OMB,
and the White House to ensure that our security resource requirements
are met, and that they are not funded at the expense of other
international affairs operations and programs.

(end Fact Sheet)