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Giuliani: Share info between FBI, state, local authorities

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani Monday said federal legislation should be drafted with a provision "that permits sharing of information between the FBI and state and local authorities."

"We've got to go into an absolute new revolutionary era in the sharing of information," Giuliani said. "We need real-time information about what is happening."

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Giuliani also called on the FBI to create a joint office with state and local authorities headed by a "high-level assistant director to make sure this happens." There should be the same kind of office in the Justice Department, he said.

Giuliani discussed gaps in information-sharing and said the FBI should be willing to give top security clearances to more people, to "close the gaps." The FBI would benefit "the other way around" as well from the intelligence gathering of 600,000 local law enforcement officers in the United States, he said.

On the broader issue of national security, Giuliani stated his support for President Bush's plan for National Missile Defense.

"America," Giuliani said, "needs to be defended. We need missile defense to better police the skies over the United States."

The mayor made the comments at a terrorism and homeland defense subcommittee hearing at New York's City Hall. The House panel is hearing testimony from Giuliani, other New York officials, and U.S. governors.

The subcommittee is part of the House Select Intelligence Committee.