I'm very proud of this Executive order.

I want to express my concern that little progress appears to have been made in reforming the prevailing rate system for adjusting wages of Federal blue collar employees.

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America including the National Security Act of 1947, as amended, and as President of the United States of America, in order to provide for the…

The National Security Council and its two standing committees will, short of the President, provide the highest level review of and guidance for the policies and practices of the Intelligence Community.

I am convinced that this bill will correct the most serious deficiencies in the prevailing rate system and I wish to reiterate my concern for its passage.

I have issued today an Executive order concerning the organization and control of United States foreign intelligence activities.

I strongly recommended early enactment of legislation to correct those provisions of current law that cause significant departures from the local prevailing rate principle.

The most important features of the new Executive order are as follows:

The most important principle that this Executive order stands for is that it demonstrates that we can fully protect our Nation and do so within the law.

Until then, however, the new order will:—ensure that foreign intelligence and counterintelligence activities are conducted in full compliance with the laws of the United States and are consistent with broader national security policies;

Once you examine that, it's true that the only way you can effectively protect against our enemies is through legal process.

This is a fairly concise, clear delineation of how the Intelligence Community will be operating in the months ahead.

A major step forward.

I think what it really stands for is that the framers of our Constitution were pretty wise men after all.

I believe that this Executive order represents an important step forward in assuring the American people that their intelligence agencies will be working effectively for them and not infringing on their legal rights.

This order also gives a great deal of additional responsibility to the Attorney General to make sure that the civil liberties and the privacy of American citizens is adequately protected.

It is equally important, however, that the methods employed by these agencies meet constitutional standards protecting the privacy and civil liberties of U.S. persons and are in full compliance with the law.

One of the most professional and competent organizations with which I have ever dealt has been the Intelligence Community.