Joe Lieberman: “long before September 11, our committee had been interested in homeland security. In July of 2001, we held a hearing on…”

“long before September 11, our committee had been interested in homeland security. In July of 2001, we held a hearing on FEMA's role on managing bioterrorist attacks. In July 2001, we had been studying whether our Government was adequately organized to protect critical infrastructure and, unrelated to the attacks, had scheduled a hearing on that subject for September 12. The day after the planes crashed into the Pentagon, the World Trade Center Towers and the field in Pennsylvania, that hearing was held in a context we never could have imagined. About a year ago, we began crafting the precursor of the legislation we are now considering. On October 11 of last year, Senator Specter and I introduced our bill to create a Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department. In May, we merged it with strong legislation that had been proposed in September by Senator Graham of Florida. And on May 22, we reported that legislation out of committee by a vote of 9 to 7. Since the President announced his support for a Department of Homeland Security on June 6, we have worked closely and collaboratively with committee chairs and ranking members, with fellow members of the Governmental Affairs Committee without regard to party, with experts in the field, and with the White House.”