Dianne Feinstein: “Thank you, Mr. President. All civilized nations, whether it is NATO, our European allies, Russia, China, the moderate…”

“Thank you, Mr. President. All civilized nations, whether it is NATO, our European allies, Russia, China, the moderate Arab States, or anyone else--I received a call this morning from the Chinese Embassy saying the President of China had called our President yesterday to indicate China's solidarity with the United States and to offer any help. Indeed, that is a giant step forward. It is a beginning. I believe we must create a critical divide between civilized nations that will not sanction terrorism and spell out those that do and do something about it. Presently, the United States spends about $12 billion, spread among a number of Departments dealing with terrorism. The proposed budget will shortly be before the Senate. If we are to engage against this threat, I think we must also organize and coordinate our Government's effort. I speak now as chairman of the Technology and Terrorism Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee and also as a member of the Intelligence Committee. We must see that these dollars are wisely spent, not frittered among more than 40 Departments. I do not believe those dollars are well spent at the present time. We must also understand that homeland defense should be our highest priority: coherent and carefully balanced, with trained personnel in every State, and an intelligence network that provides a coordination between all branches of Government and each of our States.”