(2006-1001-F) Crescenio Arcos - PFIAB

The materials in FOIA 2006-1001-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. Cresencio S. Arcos, Jr. was appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) on March 29, 1999. Arcos served on PFIAB through the Bush Administration and resigned at the end of 2008. Arcos was born in San Antonio, Texas. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and holds a Masters Degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Arcos retired from the United States Foreign Service in 1995 after a twenty five year career. During his time at the State Department Arcos served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs, and on the North American Free Trade Task Force. From 1989 to 1993, Arcos served as United States Ambassador to Honduras, where he received the Honduran government’s highest award, the Order of Francisco Morazan. After leaving the State Department, Arcos was the Vice President for AT&T Corp for International Affairs (market access and regulatory issues) in Latin America and Canada. Arcos was appointed Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by President Bush in 2005, after having served as DHS director for International Affairs since 2003. He left DHS in 2006 and moved to the private sector serving as government affairs counselor at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP. The President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Executive Order 10656, signed February 6, 1956, created the President’s Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities. Eisenhower believed that this board of respected and knowledgeable citizens could provide him with unbiased and candid appraisals of United States’ intelligence activities. President John Kennedy, by the signing of Executive Order 10938 on May 4, 1961, renamed the Board of Consultants, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Though the name was changed, the board continued to operate in much the same fashion. Executive Order 11460, signed by President Richard Nixon on March 20, 1969, again changed the name of the PFIAB to the President’s Advisory Intelligence Board. President Jimmy Carter abolished the board in March of 1977. Carter did however, retain the Intelligence Oversight Board. The IOB was created by President Gerald Ford in 1976 following a post Watergate investigation by Congress into potential illegal activities of the intelligence agencies. The IOB was tasked with reporting potential illegal activities to the Department of Justice for review. As Ford told Congress in 1976, “I believe [the changes] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time allowing them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information.” President Ronald Reagan modified the role of the IOB in 1981 and re-established the PFIAB in 1985 by signing Executive Order 12537. President William Jefferson Clinton combined the IOB and the PFIAB, making the IOB a committee rather than an independent organization. President George W. Bush radically modified the role of both the IOB and the PFIAB following the creation of a Director of National Intelligence. The newly named President’s Intelligence Advisory Board was designated to oversee the intelligence collection activities of any Federal agency engaged in the collection of intelligence or the production of intelligence policy. President Barak Obama more clearly defined the role of the PFIAB and strengthened the IOB with the passage of Executive Order 13516. Under President Clinton the PFIAB had between eleven and twelve members, by law it could be no more than sixteen, whose terms were established by the President. Members were chosen for their independence, knowledge, and experience. The members of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board serve as unpaid observers of United States intelligence community. Much of their work is highly secret in nature though Presidents have chosen on occasion to make the Board’s reports, or portions thereof, public. The members of the Board are appointed by the President and the Director serves at the leisure of the President. The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Subject file FG006-14 contains a copy of Arcos’ Curriculum Vitae as well as documents relevant to his appointment to the Board. The White House Staff and Office files also contain documents related to Arcos’ appointment to (PFIAB). The Counsel’s Office files include, in addition to forms and other documents regarding Arcos’ nomination, open press articles mentioning Arcos or his work. The files from the office of Presidential Personnel primarily consist of letters of recommendation on behalf of Cresencio Arcos. The Security Office’s file on Arcos contains documents related to his access to the White House. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) and Tape Restoration Project (TRP) records responsive to this FOIA originate in the following agencies: Office of the White House (WHO) and Default e-mails belonging to no specific agency. These e-mails are primarily administrative in nature relating to Arcos’s appointment and service on the PFIAB.