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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, spoke on the Senate floor to celebrate the confirmation of Michael C. Casey to serve as Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

“Mike’s understated style, compassion, intelligence, and deep knowledge of security and intelligence issues has been essential to the Committee’s smooth and bipartisan functioning for many years,” said Sen. Warner on the floor of the U.S. Senate. “So it is with a mixture of both regret and pride that we say goodbye to Mike as he embarks on this new role.”  

Sen. Warner’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Mister President:

I rise today to say a few words about someone who has been an essential part of the Senate community for many years now.

I proud to note that earlier this week [Tuesday evening], the Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Mike Casey to serve as Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. 

At a time when the U.S. is facing tremendous foreign intelligence and security threats, it is enormously important to have a Senate-confirmed leader at the head of the NCSC, which is charged with protecting against insider threats, supply chain risks, and other counterintelligence issues.

The position has been vacant since the end of the last administration, so as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I’m glad that we’ll now have a Senate-confirmed leader in place to lead efforts to protect against foreign threats… protect U.S. critical infrastructure… and advance the counterintelligence and security mission. 

But while I can recognize that this development is good for our national security… it is also a tremendous loss for the Senate Intelligence Committee, where Mike Casey has ably served as staff director for the last eight years. 

He began his service 28 years ago in the House of Representatives, eventually joining the staff of the House Armed Services Committee before Senator Feinstein lured him over to the upper chamber to serve as Staff Director for the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2016. 

I’ve worked closely alongside Mike ever since. He was an indispensable part of the three-and-a-half year Russia investigation… working alongside his counterparts in what was then- the Committee’s Republican majority to produce the Committee’s bipartisan and definitive report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 Presidential election. 

That was a task which he embraced with the dedication and thoroughness for which Mike is known. Even though the Committee’s staff generally prefers to do their work quietly and behind the scenes, they never buckled or wavered, despite unprecedented media and political scrutiny. The result of that work speaks for itself, and is a testament in no small part to Mike’s leadership as staff director. 

Mike’s understated style… compassion…  intelligence…  and deep knowledge of security and intelligence issues has been essential to the Committee’s smooth and bipartisan functioning for many years. 

I am convinced at this point that Mike knows virtually everything and everyone in the intelligence community, which, as my colleagues can imagine, is an enormous asset in making sure that the Committee is able to conduct our bipartisan oversight work in a robust fashion.  

So it is with a mixture of both regret and pride that we say goodbye to Mike as he embarks on this new role.

As Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Mike will face many of the same challenges with which we have wrestled on the Intelligence Committee. 

The truth is, national security is no longer simply about how has the most planes, ships, tanks, and guns. It’s also about artificial intelligence… quantum computing… 5G… cybersecurity… fusion energy… and all of the other innovations that our fueling both our economic and our national security... because whoever leads in technology will have an edge in the national security competition of the future. 

And that is not the only challenge that awaits Mike as he embarks on this new chapter… as he’ll be charged with helping to implement badly-needed reforms to our security clearance systems… so that we can do a better job of protecting our nation’s secrets from further unauthorized disclosures… while also making sure that our intelligence agencies are able to quickly and efficiently hire and retain the best and the brightest workforce.  

So, while Mike Casey might be leaving my staff… it’s safe to say he won’t be leaving my speed dial.

We’ll miss you, Mike. 

And remember: don’t screw it up.

Thank you, Mister President.