While the attempt did not end in the tragedy that it could have, we must understand how and why the bomber was able to board that flight.

Could you provide that analysis to Congress? Formal intelligence analysis that led to these determinations.

I cannot finish without telling you how concerned I am, as I am sure you know, about the new Inspector General report that came out this morning.

I join all members of this Committee in my horror at what happened on Christmas Day on the Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

So can we get a briefing on it, classified if necessary?

But what I would like to be able to have access to is the information about what happened when these countries were notified and what their response was.

The threat from al-Qaeda in Yemen, as well as the broader region, is increasing, and our attention to this part of the world is long overdue.

We need to remember, as we focus needed resources and attention on Yemen, that it shouldn't be seen as the new Afghanistan or the new Iraq.

What is it about the Israeli airport security system that has attracted as much praise as it has over the years?

I believe that when the United States ratified this treaty, it agreed to take decisive action to help prevent and punish genocide.

to give the President effective line-item veto authority to go after unauthorized, wasteful earmark spending.

Our Nation is on a fiscal path that is not sustainable. Our Country has accumulated as much new debt in the first 8 years of this decade as we did in the first 208 years of our Nation's history.

We support what Senators Feingold and McCain have proposed, and whatever comes out would be better than what we have now.

A constitutional line-item veto... would have an impact on the number and cost of earmarks as well as duplicative and nonessential programs.

What kind of timeframe are you suggesting for a response to the letter?

Does this administration continue to believe this is genocide occurring under the Genocide Convention?

Two months ago, Senators Leahy, Cardin, Franken, Kerry, and myself asked your respective Departments for recommendations on how to bring the United States back into compliance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

We have to be engaged in trying to hold the country together and prevent a further erosion of peace in the south.