[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H6691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REPUBLICANS GRILL BERGER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, well, today we finally have the 9/11 
Commission report; but unfortunately on the other side of the aisle, 
they want to focus on Sandy Berger, a former high-ranking official in 
the Clinton administration and his transgressions, whatever they might 
be. Whatever they might be, they did not kill 3,000 people. They did 
not destroy the World Trade Center. They did not attack the Pentagon, 
the United States of America, attempted to attack the Capitol and the 
White House, and he is not planning another attack on the United States 
of America, unlike al Qaeda, who is still out there planning another 
attack.
  In fact, we have heard from the head of homeland security. It is an 
imminent threat of attack that will happen sometime between now and the 
election. And this report points to the fact that we have not taken the 
steps necessary to utilize and better utilize the resources of the 
Government of the United States of America to forestall that attack.
  Now, remember, a number of us on this side of the aisle called for a 
Cabinet-level position to coordinate intelligence on the head of the 
homeland security. The President said no; but after public opinion 
moved against him, finally they threw out a proposal, just about 2 
years ago today.
  And 2 years ago today they threw out this proposal, full-blown from 
the basement of the White House, to create a 270,000-person bureaucracy 
that would be the Department of Homeland Security; but curiously 
enough, it did not go to the issues raised in this report, which is it 
did not touch the intelligence agencies, the CIA, all the intelligence 
agencies at the Defense Department. They were excluded from Homeland 
Security. It did not go to the FBI, who failed to coordinate and get 
the information and share information with the CIA and let people into 
the country who were on a terrorist watch list, but we let them into 
the country with visas who were some of the perpetrators of this 
attack.
  They say we need to make major structural changes to address those 
deficiencies. We have not made them. The Department of Homeland 
Security did not do it. We created this little weeny thing called the 
TTIC, Terrorist Threat Information Center, where the various agencies 
sent over short-term detailees who have no authority, who are supposed 
to share; but they still do not share. They do not like to share. We 
have multibillion dollar intelligence agencies, and they are like 3-
year-olds. It is mine; it is mine. They do not want to share. 
Unfortunately, people die when they do not share, and we need to break 
down that culture.
  Now they want to go back and blame Berger and the Clinton 
administration. This report says both the Clinton administration, the 
Clinton administration and the Bush administration are to blame, but 
that is history. What are we going to do today to adopt the 
recommendations of this report? Because they say the problems are 
ongoing. They are ongoing. They are still not sharing. We are still not 
coordinating. We are not defending ourselves to the best of our 
ability. They make two recommendations, a national counterterrorism 
center. Great idea, seems like to me. And a national intelligence 
director, who would be appointed by the President, based in the White 
House, with a large staff and would have the authority to make the 
intelligence agencies and the FBI share. No more 3-year-olds saying 
mine, mine, you cannot have it, but make them share in a meaningful 
way.
  Put together the pieces of the puzzle. They point out here we had 10 
pieces of the puzzle, but we failed to put it together. We cannot fail 
again, but they are saying we will. This is a nonpartisan report, 
unanimous by Republicans and Democrats alike. Most former elected 
officials, Governors, Senators, Members of Congress. This should not be 
politicized.

                              {time}  2300

  Let us not waste time down here talking about Sandy Berger. Maybe he 
committed a crime, maybe. Maybe he did not. Fine. They are 
investigating, put him in jail if he committed the crime. That is not 
the point. The point is there is someone out there planning an attack 
on the United States today which has nothing to do with what that guy 
might have done or not done, but it has a lot to do with what we have 
not done here with the inadequacies of the Homeland Security Department 
that we adopted 2 years ago that are ongoing.
  It is all in this report. I urge people to get a copy, to read it and 
to demand that their Members of Congress, their Senators take 
meaningful action in the near future.

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