Thursday
Jan072010
Reaction To President Obama's New Security Directives
Thursday, January 7, 2010 at 6:39PM
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
“President Obama took a bold and courageous step in immediately calling for and releasing the review on the attempted bombing of flight 253. While acknowledging the significant counterterrorism successes since 9/11, the President also made clear there were serious shortcomings that resulted in the failure to aggregate critical information related to this threat. That is unacceptable. Protecting the American people is the number one responsibility of the President and the Congress. I commend the President for his swift action to strengthen intelligence and aviation security. Congress looks forward to working with the President to ensure the implementation of changes to improve the safety and security of our nation.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)
“The President was right to act quickly and decisively to determine the shortfalls that allowed an attempted terrorist attack on Flight 253. While critical measures have been put in place since 9/11 to increase our security, it is clear that there must be a reassessment of how our system works so that information is aggregated and analyzed so that it is properly put to use. The actions laid out by President Obama to bolster aviation security and ensure intelligence reports are distributed widely and investigated quickly are appropriate and necessary. The House will work with President Obama in the days and months ahead to take all steps available to strengthen national security and keep the American people safe.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
“As we saw on Christmas Day, deadly terrorists continue to wage war on the American people. I appreciate that the President is working to correct the weaknesses in our intelligence and security systems that allowed that attack to happen, but I am concerned that the President has yet to lay out a real, comprehensive strategy to fight and win the war on terror. He should start by reconsidering a series of troubling decisions that have made our nation less safe. Among other things, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators should not be brought to a civilian trial in New York City. The Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, should be detained and tried as an enemy of the United States, not as a common criminal. The President should reverse his decision to bring the terrorists currently held at the prison at Guantanamo Bay into the U.S., where they will be given the same Constitutional rights as American citizens. Actions such as these will help to demonstrate to the American people, our allies, and our terrorist enemies that the Obama Administration has not reverted to a pre-9/11 mentality, and that we will not make the mistake of treating terrorist threats as a law enforcement issue.”
House Intelligence Committee Member Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.)
"I welcome the administration’s decision to publicly release its report on the Detroit attack, and believe it should release the Fort Hood attack and Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainee recidivism reports as well. It is striking that the same factors and actors involved in the Fort Hood attack seem to be at issue in the attempt to bring down a plane over the city of Detroit. I warned after the Fort Hood terrorist attack that we needed tough congressional oversight and hearings to understand the intelligence lapses that happened then to help prevent future attacks."
“President Obama took a bold and courageous step in immediately calling for and releasing the review on the attempted bombing of flight 253. While acknowledging the significant counterterrorism successes since 9/11, the President also made clear there were serious shortcomings that resulted in the failure to aggregate critical information related to this threat. That is unacceptable. Protecting the American people is the number one responsibility of the President and the Congress. I commend the President for his swift action to strengthen intelligence and aviation security. Congress looks forward to working with the President to ensure the implementation of changes to improve the safety and security of our nation.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)
“The President was right to act quickly and decisively to determine the shortfalls that allowed an attempted terrorist attack on Flight 253. While critical measures have been put in place since 9/11 to increase our security, it is clear that there must be a reassessment of how our system works so that information is aggregated and analyzed so that it is properly put to use. The actions laid out by President Obama to bolster aviation security and ensure intelligence reports are distributed widely and investigated quickly are appropriate and necessary. The House will work with President Obama in the days and months ahead to take all steps available to strengthen national security and keep the American people safe.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
“As we saw on Christmas Day, deadly terrorists continue to wage war on the American people. I appreciate that the President is working to correct the weaknesses in our intelligence and security systems that allowed that attack to happen, but I am concerned that the President has yet to lay out a real, comprehensive strategy to fight and win the war on terror. He should start by reconsidering a series of troubling decisions that have made our nation less safe. Among other things, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators should not be brought to a civilian trial in New York City. The Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, should be detained and tried as an enemy of the United States, not as a common criminal. The President should reverse his decision to bring the terrorists currently held at the prison at Guantanamo Bay into the U.S., where they will be given the same Constitutional rights as American citizens. Actions such as these will help to demonstrate to the American people, our allies, and our terrorist enemies that the Obama Administration has not reverted to a pre-9/11 mentality, and that we will not make the mistake of treating terrorist threats as a law enforcement issue.”
House Intelligence Committee Member Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.)
"I welcome the administration’s decision to publicly release its report on the Detroit attack, and believe it should release the Fort Hood attack and Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainee recidivism reports as well. It is striking that the same factors and actors involved in the Fort Hood attack seem to be at issue in the attempt to bring down a plane over the city of Detroit. I warned after the Fort Hood terrorist attack that we needed tough congressional oversight and hearings to understand the intelligence lapses that happened then to help prevent future attacks."
Reader Comments