Congress needs to pass legislation this year to increase grid reliability and to stop energy price manipulation.

Senators Feinstein, Lugar, myself, and a number of other Senators have been working on anti-fraud and anti-manipulation laws.

I thank you for holding this hearing and for moving as expeditiously as you have to examine what is clearly one of the most important issues we face in the near term in shoring up our homeland defenses.

It must answer questions about the center's role, if any, in the collection of domestic intelligence.

States local officials complain to each of us that they have not, up until this time, been kept in the loop by Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

I am disappointed that we are not going to hear from an administration representative today.

The President, obviously, would have the new center report to the Director of Central Intelligence rather than the Secretary of Homeland Security.

I consider the topic of the hearing to be one of the more important offensives, if I can put it that way, in the war against terrorism.

The intelligence disconnect, some of which you described in your opening statement, Madam Chairman, that in part led to the September 11 terrorist attacks are an embarrassment that should never have happened in the first place and we must…

Whether that will, in any measure, contribute to the evenhandedness of the DCI, or the perception of it, which will help to bring these two communities together better.

The administration needs to let the Congress know why the center's director should not be confirmed by the Senate.

I think this may be one of the more interesting activities and findings of the September 11 commission.

we need to go that direction simply from a security standpoint.

I urge my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, and people on--leaders on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to take a good open-minded look at our proposal.

I think it's absolutely critical that we do this as a Nation.

I particularly thank you for the now more than a year in which you and I and our staffs have been working with people in the--in business and environmental communities to fashion this practical program to deal through the marketplace, not…

This Governmental Affairs Committee hearing will consider legislation introduced by Senator Specter, Senator Graham, and myself.

Governor Ridge and his successors need to centralize their authority so our anti-terrorism policies are clear, consistent, and comprehensive.

I think they are doing a great job of rationalizing all that, working with the departments.

The most significant changes are a requirement for a national strategy to combat terrorism and the establishment of a White House office to coordinate that strategy.

I hope no one takes offense--that I quote Machiavelli here, who said--Senator Rudman, it is just coincidental I raised my head when I mentioned Machiavelli.

we need to give him the statutory authority to, if I can, legitimize or put into law the powers that he is actually, and quite correctly, exercising

I think we address the need to permanently restructure homeland security functions under a cabinet-level secretary who has operational authority.

I think the whole matter of the best organizational form is still very much under study.

I take it, then, and you said this, I believe, or suggested it, anyway, in your testimony, that you would find what the press is reporting, which is that Governor Ridge's original proposal for consolidation of the border agencies, which…