[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 111 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S9897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  JOINT INTELLIGENCE REPORT POST--9/11

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise tonight in response to the 
comments of my friend, the Senator from Florida, about the report that 
was issued today about September 11. There were a lot of innuendoes and 
direct statements by the Senator from Florida with respect to the 
administration, faults on the part of the administration leading up to 
September 11 and the connection of causation between the administration 
and some deficiencies with the administration and September 11. Nothing 
could be further from the truth.
  My friend from Florida made the comment that the lack of resources in 
our intelligence community played a big part in the intelligence 
deficiencies that allowed September 11 to happen. I agree with him 100 
percent. What he failed to say is that this administration had been in 
office less than 8 months when September 11 happened. This 
administration had not even been through an appropriations cycle. It is 
this body and the House that made the appropriations over the last 
several years that, in fact, did lead to a decline in resources, with 
the leadership of the previous administration, that caused the 
resources not to be put in the right place, that allowed the problems 
within the intelligence community to arise.
  The Senator mentioned certain declassification, or failure to 
declassify certain aspects of the September 11 report that were not 
included in the report that was released today. Again, he is exactly 
right. But there is a reason for that. The public does have a right to 
know everything we can tell them about the facts leading up to 
September 11. But the intelligence community does not have the right 
and should not release information relative to sources and methods.
  The intelligence community is a very complex community. The 
intelligence community has human assets in place all around the world, 
gathering information from an intelligence standpoint that is important 
to saving the lives of Americans.
  In addition to that, we have methods of gathering intelligence that 
we simply cannot disclose and divulge to people we are gathering that 
intelligence from, or it will reduce or significantly lessen, or maybe 
even not allow us to gather information from them. So it is very 
important that we not release sources and methods.
  Last, let me say my friend made the comment about secrecy on the part 
of this administration, this President. Again, nothing could be further 
from the truth. Secrecy is not the issue here, as set forth in that 
report that was released today.
  The real issue as set forth in that report is the protection of 
America and the protection of Americans. This administration had done 
everything within its power leading up to September 11 to make sure the 
intelligence community had the ability to gather intelligence and that 
the law enforcement community had the ability to interrupt and disrupt 
intelligence activity. Unfortunately, as was concluded in the report 
today--the Senator from Florida was the chairman of the Intelligence 
Committee that participated in that report--that report says that, in 
spite of everything, there is nothing that could have been done on the 
part of the intelligence community that would have prohibited September 
11 from happening.
  What we need to be aware of and what the American people need to be 
aware of is that the intelligence community has learned a lesson from 
September 11, and we are moving forward to make sure our children and 
our grandchildren live in a safe and secure America just like we have 
enjoyed. We have a lot of recommendations within that report that are 
being followed today to make sure America is a safer place.
  While I commend the men and women--and I was part of it--who worked 
very hard to get that report together, there is a lot of information in 
that report that was not declassified and which should not be 
declassified so that we can have a safer and more secure America.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the Senator from New Mexico ought to be 
doing the thanking. I knew when the people of the Senator's State sent 
him up here--he thanked us, but we ought to be thanking him; we thank 
the people of his State for sending him here--we knew when the Senator 
came that he was going to be a stalwart and someone to whom we could 
look. We knew we would be getting the ``straight scoop,'' so to speak. 
Tonight it didn't take the Senator very long to set this record 
straight.
  There is no use playing politics with things that do not need any 
politics added to them. There are already plenty of problems 
surrounding that big tragedy that came to America. We thank the Senator 
for telling us the way it is, the way it was, and the way we ought to 
understand it. This Senator thanks him for that. I wish he had more to 
say. I hope before it is over, he will have more to say about it.
  With all of the inferences and implications when things go wrong, 
there is a political campaign. Just wait, and somebody will find some 
reason to blame the person running for office. Regardless of how 
farfetched or how wild, or how irrelevant it is, it will be there.
  Frankly, we have a Senate with lots of privileges. I like the 
distinguished Senator from Florida. He had a big job when he had to put 
that report together. He doesn't have any more to say about it than a 
lot of other people. He just happens to be running for President. So he 
has a lot to say. But we thank the Senator very much for his few words 
which are excellent, as I understand it, and it is something we needed 
to hear.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I will have a lot more to say about it 
later.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I hope so.

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