Joe Lieberman

Senator Lieberman said this weekend that he was against expanding Medicare and wouldn't support health care reform that included it.

Thanks very much, Ms. Harman. That was an excellent opening statement.

I urge you to do that, and I do not have a real judgment on it myself.

One never knows when it will move quickly or not move at all.

The drug cartels are the major organized crime threat to this country right now.

You have drawn support from a truly impressive array of people.

We have had evidence before the Committee of a concern that foreign terrorist groups might actually link up with Mexican drug cartels.

The law says that if we do not have this new process put in place for biomatric air exit, no new countries can come in unless they have a visa refusal rate of less than 3 percent, turned down.

I appreciate that you are on it.

I think without making too much of a point of it, even though the Headley case presents challenges to the system or questions about it, the fact is that through quite remarkable work across law enforcement and intelligence, he was…

Of course, I agree with you, Senator Ensign. I appreciate your line of questioning and what you have just said.

We need to do more to improve our procedures and to guard against security lapses such as this one.

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which Senator Lieberman and I co-authored, expanded and strengthened many of these initiatives.

It is difficult. Is there a role to be played here in sharing information on potential terrorist travel with other nations?

I think one of the most important provisions of the terrorism prevention legislation that we passed in 2004 was the requirement that all individuals undergo a personal interview when applying for a visa.

Yes, and obviously this is very important, just to stress the point that I made in offering this question.

I think it is generally true across the board. It has been quite an impressive upgrade...

We are dedicated to protecting the United States.

The terrorist watchlist, as we have described, is really quite a powerful tool for us in detecting terrorists, denying them the ability to travel.

Thank you very much. That was an excellent opening statement. Obviously, you know about this area and have thought some about it.

Thanks for your service to the country up until now, and if you are confirmed, obviously, we look forward to working with you as you develop this very important function of the Department, over which we have an oversight responsibility, to…

I wanted to ask you if you have thought about how you would use that authority and others to harmonize policies, standards, and processes within the Department in a way that would not only enhance integration but make it more likely that…

How to sensitize them to err on the side of caution when they see something that worries them

Thanks very much, Senator Collins, for that very thoughtful statement.

The provision that established the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate goes to the heart of the weaknesses that have been exposed in our Nation's homeland defenses since September 11, 2001--and that is, the lack…