Political Quotes

“This amendment is straightforward. It simply seeks to repeal the authorization for the National Drug Intelligence Center which was included in the 1993 Defense Appropriations Act. The NDIC is an entity that has received hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars over the years. This is despite steady criticism that it has been ineffective at accomplishing its mission. This is a mission that has been described as duplicative and ought to be realigned elsewhere. The Wall Street Journal noted on January 31, ``Conservatives have argued the center is a waste of taxpayer money, and critics argue it has never fulfilled its promise to provide high-quality analysis of drug networks.'' I have come to this floor many times, seeking to eliminate funding or to otherwise close the NDIC. However, reducing funding or ending funding for the NDIC has been far from a solo mission. Earlier this year, we voted in the CR debate to end funding for the NDIC. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, President Bush proposed the termination of the NDIC in budget requests for fiscal years 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2006, a spokesman for the Department of Justice asserted that the resources of the NDIC should be ``realigned to support priority counterterrorism and national security initiatives.'' Even the current administration's Deputy Attorney General James Cole said that many of the center's functions can be performed elsewhere, as reported in ``CQ Today'' on February 14 of this year.…”