[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5463-5464]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          THE 9/11 COMMISSION

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to close on an unrelated 
topic. I am in the process of reading a book, ``Against All Enemies,'' 
by Richard Clarke, and as I started reading the book I was struck by 
the first chapter. You may remember Mr. Clarke served as the terrorism 
adviser and coordinator under President Clinton and then again under 
this President Bush. He has been working for some 30 years as a 
professional in this field. He has made some statements over the last 
10 days which have become a source of headlines across America.
  The administration has spent more time since he first appeared on 
``60 Minutes'' 7 or 8 days ago discrediting Richard Clarke than I have 
ever seen spent on any other individual. It is clear what he has said 
is painful to them. What he said is he believes this administration--
the Bush administration, and the Clinton administration for that 
matter--could have done a better job in anticipating the threat of al-
Qaida.
  He says in his book, of course, that he thinks they were too focused 
on Iraq, even though there was no connection between Iraq, Saddam 
Hussein, and 9/11 and the al-Qaida terrorists responsible for it.
  These statements have enraged the White House. They have sent 
everyone out--from the President on down--stating publicly that Richard 
Clarke is out to sell books.
  If you read the first chapter of this book, you will get a much 
different impression of this Richard Clarke, who to many is just 
another faceless bureaucrat working in the White House. You will learn 
when you read this book--or others will tell you--that on 9/11 after 
the World Trade Center was struck in New York, it was Richard Clarke in 
his capacity as coordinator to deal with terrorism in the White House--
who had I guess as much as any single person in the Government--who had 
a particular personal responsibility to deal with the safety of the 
President and the Vice President and the Cabinet, the continuity of 
Government, and the whole question of grounding aircraft around this 
country. He was the man who was at the controls at that point in time 
as everyone was trying to deal with what was going on.
  I say that in a positive fashion because I do not know that I have 
ever heard many say what I have just said. But it tells me that a man 
who spent 30 years dealing with the intelligence and domestic security 
and terrorism who is now being discredited in a matter of 7

[[Page 5464]]

or 8 days as a person who can't be trusted to share his insights on 
what happened raises some important questions.
  I honestly believe Richard Clarke has done us a service. He says in 
this book the Clinton administration could have done a better job. He 
says the Bush administration could have done a better job. And, 
frankly, we all could have done a better job, including Members of 
Congress, the Senate and the House. That is something we ought to face 
up to.
  Let me also add he appeared last week before the 9/11 Commission. The 
September 11 Commission is a bipartisan commission cochaired by 
Governor Kean of New Jersey and former Congressman Lee Hamilton of 
Indiana--two good men, professionals who are trying to get at the 
bottom of why 9/11 occurred and what we could have done to avoid it.
  They have had testimony from Mr. Tenet, who is Director of the CIA, 
from Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, and his predecessor, Secretary 
Cohen. They are going to entertain testimony from President Clinton and 
President Bush. They certainly had Mr. Clarke before them, and I think 
that is all well and good. I think all of those leaders in Government 
who were involved in the decisionmaking should sit and meet with this 
commission to get to the bottom of how America can be safer, which 
brings us to the story of the day.
  I can't understand why Condoleezza Rice, who has served this 
administration and this country so well, is resisting an invitation to 
appear before the 9/11 Commission. If the President can find time, if 
former President Clinton, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and the head 
of the CIA can find time, certainly it is not a matter of scheduling.
  Second, she has made a number of appearances, as you know, on 
television on ``60 Minutes'' last night, and many other shows. So she 
is prepared to entertain questions from reporters. Why is she resisting 
this opportunity to testify? To say it has never been done, that it is 
unprecedented, let me say thank goodness 9/11 had never occurred before 
and it was unprecedented.
  Let us gather together in a bipartisan fashion. Ms. Rice should come 
before the bipartisan commission and answer as many questions as openly 
and honestly as she can without ever crossing the line in the area of 
national security. But as she resists this opportunity to share her 
feelings about the preparation of the defense of America, she 
shortchanges the process which is simply trying to make America a safer 
nation.
  Let us keep this bipartisan. Let us entertain not only Mr. Clarke but 
also Ms. Rice in terms of her views and memories of what happened on 
that fateful day.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.

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