purpose, too. It’s a time to recognize the outstanding work of the FBI Agents Association on behalf of your members and their families, on behalf of our fallen colleagues and their loved ones, and on behalf of the Bureau as a whole.

What you in the Agents Association do for your members—for our entire FBI Family—is absolutely essential. And before I get any further, I want to say thank you to everyone gathered here tonight: to the Agents Association for leading such important work, to our private sector partners whose contributions support it, and to each and every one of the agents, current and former, who make it all possible.

The Challenges We’re Up Against

What you all do for our FBI Family could not come at a more crucial time. We all know the Bureau’s work has never been easy, but when I look back over the course of my career in law enforcement, I’d be hard-pressed to remember a time when so many different threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once.

We’re fighting violent crime that reached alarming levels during the pandemic, and still plagues far too many communities, but we’re making real progress. Last year, our Safe Streets and Violent Crime Task Forces arrested something like 50 bad guys per day, every day.

We’re also combating cyberattacks targeting our critical infrastructure and American businesses large and small. In fact, when it comes to ransomware alone, we’re investigating more than 100 different variants—each affecting scores of victims.

We’re tackling the cartels pushing fentanyl and other dangerous drugs into every corner of the country, claiming countless American lives. That work includes nearly 400 investigations—and those are just the ones into cartel leadership—and our seizure of enough fentanyl to kill 270 million Americans, in the past two years alone.

We’re also fighting to keep children—the most vulnerable among us—safe from abuse and exploitation, arresting hundreds of predators and rescuing hundreds of kids every year.

At the same time, we’re rooting out foreign adversaries looking to steal our innovation, influence our elections, and export repression to our shores. When it comes to China, for instance, we’ve got something like 2,000 active cases across every one of our field offices.

And, of course, we’re disrupting terrorism, our number-one priority—a threat that was already elevated but one we’ve seen rise to a whole new level in the year since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel. In my time as Director, we’ve successfully thwarted multiple terrorist attacks in cities and communities around the country, and each one could’ve had devastating effects.

We’re doing this work day after day after day. And we’re doing it while facing challenges created by things like warrant-proof encryption and violence that actually targets law enforcement at unacceptably high levels. And it’s all coming at a time when—with the shortsighted prospect of budget cuts—the Bureau’s being asked to do even more.

Finding Inspiration in the FBI’s Workforce

Now I realize that sounds daunting, and it is. But my confidence in the men and women of the FBI—in our ability to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution—remains unwavering. And I make that assessment from a vantage point that, after about seven and a half years in this job, I think is pretty unique. I’ve rolled up my sleeves, I’ve lifted the hood, and I’ve taken a good hard look around. And what I’ve seen—what I continue to see—is inspiring.

Our folks put everything they’ve got—courage, selflessness, and strength—into their work. They show up for each other with compassion and support when their FBI Family members need them the most. Even when they’re off the clock, they’re out there demonstrating heroic acts of bravery and sacrifice—often to help people they’ve never met and won’t ever see again.

And that brings me to what I want to talk to you about tonight. The thing that’s most inspiring to me about the FBI when I reflect on all I’ve seen and experienced with you these last seven and a half years: the heart of the FBI.

Giving Our All for the Job

Way back, when I was less than two months into my tenure as Director—when, as my family constantly points out, my hair was a lot less gray, although I prefer the term “silver,”—I gave the commencement address to my first class of new agents at Quantico, class 17-03. Last month, I spoke to the graduates of class 24-04.

Time flies when you’re having fun.

And in that time, I haven’t missed a single ceremony. That means, over the course of seven-plus years and 38 graduations, I’ve had the privilege of giving more than fifty-six-hundred special agents—over 40 percent of the agents on the job today—their badges and credentials.

Fifty-six-hundred new agents’ hands shaken. Fifty-six-hundred graduation photos snapped. Fifty-six-hundred families personally welcomed into our FBI Family.

I’ve also had the privilege of running across a bunch of those agents again in my visits to our offices across the country and around the world. And from this point of view, from where I sit, I can tell you that our new agent workforce is simply extraordinary—and remains unparalleled.

We’re graduating new agents like Raquel Mobley in New Orleans’ Shreveport RA. Fresh out of the Academy, she secured three life sentences for an especially heinous subject. He’d preyed on at least eight victims—three of them children—and was found guilty of kidnapping, rape, and assault.

But that was just the beginning for Raquel. Her first few years onboard also included a guilty verdict in a civil rights case, prison sentences for a pair who’d embezzled from the local police union, and the disruption of a dogfighting ring spanning four states—and the rescue of more than 70 dogs.

Oh, and in her spare time? Raquel also became a crisis negotiator and earned her EMT certification.

We’ve got inspiring agents like Raquel—employees of the very highest caliber—in every office across the country.

Take the Chicago SWAT agent who was shot in his dominant hand, so he retrained himself to shoot left-handed and requalified for SWAT left-handed.

Or the Atlanta agent who unexpectedly came across a violent gang fugitive, chased the bad guy into a car, and got caught in the door. The subject then dragged him onto the interstate and—in the hopes of shaking him loose—began ramming other cars. The agent broke his arm, legs, and pelvis but still managed to fire his weapon, stop the subject, and ensure the arrest.

All in a day’s work, right?

As many of you know firsthand, exceptional agents giving their all for the job are nothing new for the FBI. They’re simply following in the footsteps of a long line of agents who’ve come before them, like tonight’s Distinguished Service Honoree, retired Special Agent Jack Garcia.

You could say Jack’s career is the stuff of legend, but it’s better than that because it’s true. In his 26 years with the Bureau, Jack worked on hundreds of undercover operations, burrowing deep into the worlds of drug cartels and organized crime.

Among his many accomplishments? Infiltrating the Gambino crime family, which led to arrests and convictions for dozens of mobsters. In fact, Jack was so good at fooling the mob, at one point they considered inducting him into the family. Now that’s commitment to the job.

So Jack, and agents like him, certainly set the bar high. But today’s agents are just as inspiring in their dedication to the mission. And I’m far from the only one who thinks so.

Back when I first got here, we were getting something like 12,000 applications a year from people who wanted to become special agents. In the time since, that pace has tripled.

Those soaring numbers come at a time when law enforcement in general is struggling with recruiting and speak volumes about the strength of the FBI brand—what the Bureau means to people—the ones we do the work with, and the ones we do the work for.

It tells me the folks out there find our workforce just as inspiring as I do. The American public sees our workforce making a difference, putting their whole heart into their work, and that’s something they want to be a part of.

Being There for Our FBI Family

But there’s another aspect of heart that I see our folks display all the time, too. And that’s an extraordinary capacity for kindness and compassion—for taking care of each other. You can see it in a whole bunch of ways, in a whole host of places, but let me tell you about when it’s been particularly striking to me.

While in this role, I decided I wanted to make a point of reaching out to employees and FBI families going through especially tough times. Maybe they’ve just received a difficult diagnosis or lost a spouse or a child. The circumstances are often different, but these are folks who, without a doubt, are really going through it.

But during these moments—a call, a visit—I’ve noticed over the years our people tell me, pretty much without exception, how blown away and touched they’ve been by their colleagues, by the outpouring of compassion and support they’ve received from their FBI Family. I’ve made over a hundred of those calls and visits over the years, and I hear it every time.

As Natalie just mentioned, America—the world, really—knows the FBI for our fidelity, bravery, and integrity. And that’s great. They should. But I wish they also knew how fiercely our folks care for each other and how much of our heart we put into our FBI Family.

Because the American people don’t know, for instance, about the agent who learned her colleague’s wife was in desperate need of a kidney, so she donated her own and saved an FBI Family member’s life.

They don’t know that when Hurricanes Milton and Helene hit back-to-back, our Tampa Field Office came together to keep each other safe. The minute the storms moved out, they mobilized to assist their colleagues, helping more than a dozen fellow employees begin recovering from the catastrophic damage and losses they’d suffered.

And they don’t know that we’ve got countless other stories just like those.

I’m sure that hearing the FBI takes care of each other doesn’t come as news to anybody here tonight, though, because the Agents Association is a perfect example of the kind of compassion and heart I’m talking about.

Providing scholarships for the children and spouses of agents who’ve passed away, or lending financial assistance to members experiencing unforeseen hardship—the work you do on behalf of our FBI Family is remarkable. Taking care of each other is at the core of who you are—who we are—and I’m eternally grateful for it.

Going Above and Beyond for Our Communities

But I can’t stop there. Because in my time here, it’s become clear there’s one more way our people really show their heart.

In the last seven and a half years, I’ve visited every single one of our field offices twice, and I’m halfway through my third round. I’ve met with all of our Headquarters divisions and been to about 30 of our legal attaché offices, from Cairo to Warsaw to Mexico City to Tokyo. I’ve sat down privately with frontline supervisors and informal leaders, probably thousands of them in all.

And I’ve seen, time and again, how the FBI’s men and women go above and beyond for the people in their communities. Not just in the core of their work but even when—or maybe especially when—they’re off the clock.

This past August, for instance, while visiting some of our offices in the Midwest, I learned about Special Agent Amy Chandler. Amy works crimes against children out of the Minot RA in North Dakota. Most of her work takes place on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, and she’s seen children in some of the worst situations you can imagine. In the past two years alone, she’s secured three life sentences in child sexual abuse cases.

But what Amy has done professionally pales in comparison to her contributions to the community outside of work. She knew the reservation had some of the highest rates of children in foster care in the state and that there weren’t nearly enough homes available for them. So she volunteered to foster not one, not two, but three Native American children.

They’d experienced some pretty terrible things before they got to Amy. But now? They’re thriving. One even wants to be an FBI agent when she grows up—and that doesn’t surprise me one bit.

I also wasn’t surprised to learn Amy’s FBI colleagues had rallied around the family. They drive the kids to practices, celebrate their birthdays, share holidays with them. And last month, Amy’s teammates from four cities across North Dakota turned up for a party.

What were they celebrating? She and those three kids had just gotten back from court and made their adoption official.

That’s the kind of impact FBI employees are making throughout their communities. And what’s even more inspiring is that our organization is full of men and women like Amy.

Consider that every year—so, ahead of time—we set aside a date for an Honorary Medals ceremony in anticipation of our employees’ heroism—recognizing heroism both on the job and off the clock.

At this year’s ceremony alone, we recognized maybe half a dozen agents who’d saved kids from drowning. And all of them had done it while they were on vacation, or at the local swimming pool, just going about their daily lives. They weren’t working, and this wasn’t part of their core duties. They just saw someone in need and jumped in to help.

Just like your own vice president, Jennifer Morrow, whose bravery we also recognized this year. Jennifer was waiting for a flight home from Denver when she saw another passenger in distress. She jumped into action, performing CPR, using a defibrillator, and helping the emergency responders once they arrived.

The man was a perfect stranger, and she saved his life. And for the record, when asked if I could mention her this evening, she said, “I hate this, but I guess I can’t say no.”

That’s not surprising to me, but you deserve it, Jennifer. And so do all the men and women across the Bureau who are putting their hearts into helping others.

Like the Portland agent out for a morning run who rescued a mentally ill woman off the train tracks in the face of an oncoming train. Or the Charlotte agent who used sheer physical force to rescue a woman from a fiery car crash, extinguish her burning clothes, and render first aid.

That kind of resilience and grit combined with compassion and selflessness—it’s extraordinary. But it’s something I get to see day in and day out from the men and women of the FBI.

What the FBI’s Heart Means to Others

Jennifer’s discomfort at being highlighted that I mentioned a few moments ago is something I encounter all the time—vintage Bureau. And that simultaneous courage and humility translates into respect and gratitude from the folks I talk to across the country and around the world.

I see and hear it in my conversations with our law enforcement partners, nearly weekly, and I’ve sat down with more than 3,000 chiefs, sheriffs, state police superintendents, and more from all 50 states over these years.

I see and hear it from our National Academy students—the best of the best from law enforcement agencies here at home and abroad—and I’ve given diplomas to more than 5,000 National Academy graduates by now.

I see and hear it just as consistently from our foreign partners, and I’ve held hundreds of meetings with my counterparts over the years—more than 70 countries.

What I see and what I hear, wherever I am, is that the work we’re doing every day—the investigations we’re conducting, the partnerships we’re building, the communities we’re protecting—that’s what makes people want to work with us and be associated with us. Again, because of the heart the FBI’s men and women put into everything they do.

There’s another place I see that admiration and respect—and pride, too. It’s among our own workforce and shines through particularly clearly at our graduation ceremonies.

Since I’ve been Director, we’ve had more than 400 agents receive their badges and credentials from “guest presenters”—immediate family members, usually their parents or spouses, and themselves current or retired employees.

That’s more than 400 members of our FBI Family who chose to carry on their own families’ legacies by devoting their lives to working with us. To me, that speaks loudly—profoundly—about the strength and heart of the FBI. Because what matters most in our lives? I’d wager everyone in this room would say the people we love.

So when I’m up there on stage with them and see up close our employees encouraging their loved ones to join them here at the Bureau, and then celebrating and becoming emotional when they do, it’s a pretty powerful and moving testament to the way our own folks feel about their organization.

And once folks join us, they can’t get enough. You’d be hard-pressed to find an organization, public or private, anywhere on the planet with a retention rate as high as ours. I’m talking something like over 99 percent for our special agent cadre. And I firmly believe that’s because once you’ve been a part of this mission, and you’ve had the opportunity to work with colleagues who throw their hearts into serving others, you just know there’s nothing else quite like it anywhere in the world.

So when I think about all those inspiring men and women who are sacrificing so much for so many, and when I think about the respect and appreciation I consistently hear from the people we do the work with and the people we do the work for, I can’t help but feel grateful for the privilege of leading this organization.

It’s a privilege few can claim, but one who can is someone who’s always enjoyed tonight’s event. As I said at the beginning, we’re fortunate to have Judge Webster here with us this evening.

Many of you have had the honor of speaking with him over the years. And if you think back on those conversations, you might recall a phrase he often uses when describing the character of the FBI. He says, “Fidelity, bravery, and integrity…and heart.”

And he says it so consistently that you’d wonder if maybe he’s got a different copy of our seal tucked away somewhere, but I’ve got a feeling it’s the same thing I’ve been talking about here tonight. Because from the bird’s-eye view that we have, it’s unmistakable that the men and women who make up our FBI are extraordinary—for what they do, and for who they are.

Conclusion

Before I wrap up, I want to share with you one last story. It’s about a little girl named Oliviah Hall. I had the honor of meeting Oliviah a few years ago. She was nine years old at the time, and she had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

But her dream was to work for the FBI. So a foundation like Make-A-Wish connected her with her local field office in Cleveland, where Special Agent J.B. Breen volunteered to be this little girl’s training agent, so to speak.

Thanks to J.B. and the rest of the team in Cleveland, Oliviah did it all. She went to SWAT training, kicked in doors, and fired simulated weapons. Then she traveled to Quantico, where she met the HRT K9s and even got to arrest her dad in Hogan’s Alley. We didn’t make her write up a 302, but otherwise, very real stuff.

We even held a graduation ceremony for Oliviah. And I’m talking the whole nine yards—color guard, national anthem, executives in suits, everything. More than a thousand people came, from new agent trainees to National Academy students. It was the biggest ceremony we’d ever held.

Now, in between all those FBI experiences, she came to Headquarters to see me. And when she got there, she walked right up to me and said, “What’s up, Wray?!”

That day, she also gave me a gray bracelet that said “Team Oliviah” on it. Now, I don’t know if this is going to surprise you all, but I’m not really a bracelet kind of guy. But I was so taken with Oliviah—just like everybody who met her—that I wore that bracelet proudly.

Tragically, Oliviah passed away not long after. Everybody in our Cleveland office took it hard, but nobody so hard as J.B. Breen.

He and the Halls had grown close. When he wasn’t taking Oliviah to SWAT training, he was accompanying her to doctor’s appointments. And their families had formed such a bond that J.B. and his wife even named their newborn daughter after her: Jenna Oliviah-Irene Breen.

An interviewer once asked J.B. what he considered the highlight of his FBI career. This is a guy who’s worked counterterrorism cases, served on the SWAT team, traveled the globe. And you know what he said?

He said his greatest professional achievement was what he’d been able to do for Oliviah.

It was such a gift to have gotten to meet her and to help make some of her FBI dreams come true. I kept wearing that little gray bracelet for months, even after Oliviah passed away. And to this day, I’m grateful to J.B. for building that relationship between her family and our FBI Family.

Agents like J.B.—and like Raquel, Amy, and Jennifer—all day, every day, they inspire me. After about seven and a half years, you might think I’d have grown accustomed to it, but in fact, the opposite is true. The more I’ve gotten to know the FBI’s men and women, the longer we’ve worked together, the more they inspire me.

So to all the agents here tonight—and to the entire FBI Family—I want to say thank you.

Thank you for the courage and commitment you demonstrate day in and day out—both in the course of your work and outside of it. Thank you for the compassion and kindness you show to each other. Thank you for going above and beyond for the communities we serve.

Thank you for your fidelity, for your bravery, and for your integrity. And most of all, thank you for your heart.

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