[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 68 (Friday, May 7, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S3405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TIMES SQUARE BOMBING ATTEMPT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, last weekend's close call is a wake-up call. 
The attempt to bomb New York City's Times Square should remind us both 
of the vigilance we must maintain to keep Americans safe, and the 
triviality of political fingerpointing.
  I first want to once again thank the men and women who helped avert 
disaster--and saved untold lives--in one of America's most iconic and 
crowded spaces. The system in place appears to be working as designed: 
improved aviation security measures helped authorities apprehend the 
subject as he attempted to flee, and the suspect is now reportedly 
providing valuable information that could help disrupt and prevent 
future attacks. I am confident he and anyone else who contributed to 
this atrocious act will be held to account.
  But I have been disappointed that some have tried to politicize this 
attempted attack on our homeland. Let's use this opportunity to pursue 
justice and make sure our law enforcement, military, and intelligence 
services have every tool they need to do their jobs. Let's also be sure 
we examine what worked and didn't so we can improve the system. But 
let's not mistake it as an opportunity to score political points or 
make baseless accusations that do nothing to ensure our citizens' 
safety.
  A thwarted terrorist attack in the heart of our Nation's most 
populous city reminds us that we have enough real enemies--we need not 
be our own.
  Let's also put this latest incident in context: It follows a 
successful series of steps the administration has taken to protect us 
here at home.
  We have disrupted numerous terrorism plots and prosecuted dozens of 
terrorist suspects, including the ringleader of a plan to bomb New York 
City's subway system last year. Attorney General Holder called that 
plot ``one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation since 
September 11th, 2001.'' That attack never happened; we cannot know how 
many lives were saved, and our country is safer because of this 
administration's swift and smart leadership.
  Our Nation is also prosecuting David Headley, who is accused of 
plotting with the Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba to 
launch the devastating terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008, as well as 
to carry out other plots in South Asia and Europe. Attorney General 
Holder has credited the criminal justice system for achieving both a 
guilty plea and valuable intelligence about terrorist activities from 
Headley.
  And earlier this year, the FBI disrupted an international network of 
extremists operating through the Internet to plot attacks, raise 
funding for terrorism and recruit new terrorists. Two Americans--
Colleen LaRose and Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, also known as Jihad Jane and 
Jihad Jamie--were arrested along with six foreign co-conspirators. The 
two Americans will soon be tried in Federal court.
  That's not all. We have also enhanced intelligence sharing, 
strengthened aviation security and boosted human-intelligence 
collection capabilities. We have fully implemented the 9/11 
Commission's recommendations. And we have significantly increased 
funding for the FBI, the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland 
Security and the intelligence community.
  At the same time, we're keeping Americans safer at home by taking the 
fight to terrorists abroad. In recent months we have helped kill or 
capture the most wanted terrorist leaders across Iraq, southeast Asia, 
Africa and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. We have disrupted al-
Qaida's operations, finances and safe havens, and killed or captured 
more than half of its top 20 leaders. It is widely agreed that al-Qaida 
is the weakest it has been since 9/11.
  We have also begun to reverse the Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan, 
in part by tripling the number of U.S. troops there. And we have 
strengthened our partnership with Pakistan, empowering it to mount 
major offensives against terrorists within its borders.
  I am praising the administration's vigilance not because the 
President is a Democrat. I am praising it because it is, by any 
objective measure, successful. America is as prepared as ever to defend 
against any threat, domestic or foreign.
  If, as this past weekend showed us, private citizens, street vendors, 
law enforcement and intelligence officials can work together in 
everyone's best interest, I would expect U.S. Senators to be able to do 
the same.

                          ____________________