Don’t limit search for new director

The next FBI director will be leading the world’s premier law enforcement agency through one of the most challenging times in the bureau’s history. The discussion on potential nominees must move beyond disqualifying persons based on overgeneralized categories, and toward specific attributes of potential candidates.

The next director needs to have the trust and confidence of the agents who he or she leads; the strength to be independent; experience in national security and criminal issues; and the ability to work on a bipartisan basis with Congress. The position requires someone whose sole purpose in every decision is to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.

There should not be a blanket requirement that the person has never been involved in politics, but rather that the person has demonstrated that he or she has worked in a non-partisan or bipartisan manner.

The FBIAA consulted its members (more than 13,000 active and retired agents) and established principles that agents would like to see in an FBI director. A key principle is that the next director must re- main committed to the centrality of special agents — those hardworking agents who put their lives on the line every day to protect our country from criminals and terrorists.

After reviewing potential candidates, the FBI Agents Association recently endorsed Mike Rogers, a former member of Congress, to be the next FBI director. We made this endorsement because of his public service, not despite it.

As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rogers, a former FBI special agent and military veteran, worked diligently, discretely and in a bipartisan manner on the most important security threats. He has shown that he can confront sensitive issues without politicizing them, and he showed a willingness to come to conclusions guided by the available evidence, not ideology. These attributes are why he was able to build a strong working relationship with both Democrats and Republicans.

Finding someone who is dedicated to the mission of the FBI and preserving the Constitution should be the most important criteria for selecting the next FBI director.