[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 18 (Thursday, February 17, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1601-S1602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NOMINATION OF AMBASSADOR JOHN NEGROPONTE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today President Bush nominated Ambassador 
John Negroponte to be the new Director of National Intelligence. Rarely 
will a nominee so clearly go from the frying pan to the fire.
  Ambassador Negroponte will face enormous challenges in his new 
position just as he has in his current position as our Ambassador to 
Iraq. His experience there will serve him well, since the war with Iraq 
has made the country a breeding ground for terrorism that did not 
previously exist. His new top priority must be to keep America's 
intelligence community focused on the real threat to our national 
security--the war against al-Qaida.
  This will not be an easy task. The ongoing war in Iraq is sapping our 
military, diplomatic, and intelligence resources. It is a war that did 
not need to be fought. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There 
were no persuasive links to al-Qaida. America should not have rushed to 
war with Iraq. We should have stayed focused on the imminent threat 
from al-Qaida, a threat that remains strong more than three years after 
the 9/11 attacks.
  CIA Director Porter Goss' statement yesterday that ``Al Qaeda is 
intent on finding ways to circumvent US security enhancements to strike 
Americans and the homeland'' is a timely reminder that al-Qaida is 
still the gravest threat to our national security, and the war in Iraq 
has ominously given al-Qaida new incentives and new opportunities to 
attack us.
  The warning about al-Qaida's threat was emphasized Admiral James Loy, 
Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. He told the Intelligence 
Committee, ``We believe that attacking the homeland remains at the top 
of Al Qaeda's operational priority list. We believe that their intent 
remains strong for attempting another major operation here.''
  The danger was also emphasized by Robert Mueller, the FBI Director, 
who told the Intelligence Committee, ``The threat posed by 
international terrorism, and in particular from Al-Qaeda and related 
groups, continues to be the gravest we face.'' Director Mueller said, 
``Al Qaeda continues to adapt and move forward with its desire to 
attack the United States using any means at its disposal. Their intent 
to attack us at home remains and their resolve to destroy America has 
never faltered.''
  In addition, the threat was emphasized by the Director of the Defense 
Intelligence Agency, Admiral Lowell Jacoby, who said, ``The threat from 
terrorism has not abated. . . . The primary threat for the foreseeable 
future is a network of Islamic extremists hostile to the United States 
and our interests. The network is transnational and has a broad range 
of capabilities to include mass casualty attacks.''
  Most ominously of all, CIA Director Porter Goss emphasized that 
terrorists are doing all they can to acquire nuclear materials that can 
be used in a nuclear attack against any American

[[Page S1602]]

city. He spoke specifically about the materials missing from Russian 
nuclear facilities. He said, ``There is sufficient material unaccounted 
for, so that it would be possible for those with know-how to construct 
a nuclear weapon.'' His assessment is that ``It may be a only a matter 
of time before Al Qaeda or another group attempts to use chemical, 
biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.''
  Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jacoby concurred, saying, ``We 
judge terrorist groups, particularly Al Qaeda, remain interested in 
chemical, biological radiological and nuclear weapons.''
  Admiral James Loy, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security warned, 
``Al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups have demonstrated an operational 
capability to conduct dramatic, mass-casualty attacks against both hard 
and soft targets inside the United States and abroad . . . The most 
severe threats revolve around al-Qaeda and its affiliates' long-
standing intent to develop, procure, or acquire chemical, biological, 
radiological, and even nuclear, weapons for mass-casualty attacks.''
  CIA Director Porter Goss also said that we've created a breeding 
ground for terrorists in Iraq and a cause worldwide for the continuing 
recruitment of anti-American extremists.
  His assessment was clear. ``The Iraq conflict, while not a cause of 
extremism, has become a cause for extremists . . . Islamic extremists 
are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. jihadists . 
. . These jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced in and 
focused on acts of urban terrorism. They represent a potential pool of 
contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups, and networks 
in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries.''
  American forces served bravely and with great honor in Iraq. But the 
war in Iraq has made it more likely--not less likely--that we will face 
terrorist attacks in American cities, and not just the streets of 
Baghdad. The war has clearly made us less safe, and less secure.
  It has significantly increased the challenges to our intelligence 
community. And it underscores the vital need to have a Director of 
National Intelligence who understands that it is al-Qaida not Iraq--
that has always been and remains the greatest threat to our national 
security.
  In my view, we have no higher priority than to do everything we 
possibly can to track down and secure the nuclear materials missing 
from Russian stockpiles or from any other source that might be 
available to terrorists. The nuclear clock is ticking, and we are 
living on borrowed time.

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