Joe Lieberman

This happens to be the D.C. related committee.

I say that with regret, because I wanted to hear both sides.

I think it raises big hopes in the hearts and minds of the parents and the children who are involved in that program.

Now, thank God, we have gone 8 years, and we have not suffered another attack on our territory, so that hopefully means that we have done some good risk assessment or we have sent messages out that have deterred our enemies.

There is no question that we have failed as a country to describe what risk we are willing to accept.

I would urge you to go forward and pursue it.

The 9/11 Commission said that one of the causes of September 11, 2001, was a failure of imagination.

It pays to listen to the people who happen to live in the area or field that you are regulating.

I agree totally with you about that.

I would feel it would be my obligation to refer the matter to the Department of Justice.

OIRA is one of those government agencies that has a very low public profile but exerts great influence over the workings of our government and the daily lives of most Americans.

So are you confident the homeland security perspective will be maintained if this BioShield fund is no longer at DHS?

The President indicated at one point a few weeks ago that he would be asking for $1.5 billion to deal with this potential flu outbreak and potential epidemic or pandemic.

I must say, I am impressed by your ability to respond to the questions in some detail after having been on the job for just over 100 days.

I understand the pressure on the local fire departments in terms of personnel, but it is also great in terms of equipment running out because the budgets of all the fire departments are so personnel intensive that a lot of them end up…

I know that you and we on this Committee share a similar vision of what we expect for the Department of Homeland Security.

I want to ask you to take another look at the Recovery Act because I believe the funding in that act for the fire departments was for construction and renovation of the fire department buildings, not for the purchase of equipment, which…

In the budget process, no department head gets everything he or she wants.

Each line of the budget is in some sense a vision of what we expect from our government now and into the future.

My guess is there is going to be a lot of interest in these two programs.

It become an organization that is simply the best in the world at detecting, deterring, preparing for, and responding to disasters.

Well, obviously we wish you well as you try to do all the things that the law and we ask you to do.

I thank my colleagues. I thank all of you. The hearing is adjourned.

I appreciate your doing that and they deserve our thanks, as well.

I want to join in thanking the panel and all members of the Commission for what you've done.