Political Quotes

“I want to say in plain view of everyone how proud I am of the leadership they have provided to our committee. At a time when much of Washington, DC, was taking the month of August off, they made sure that our committee did not. At a time when most Senators were scattered around the world, the country, and back in their own States, they made sure we were here, and not just for any purpose but to participate in a series of excellent hearings. I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, we have had a total of eight hearings thus far in the last month on this subject, from all kinds of people within the CIA, folks who have been National Security Advisers, Secretaries of Defense, Secretaries of State, Secretaries of Homeland Security. We have heard from the Commissioners themselves, the cochairs of the Commission, and from their senior staff. It has been an extraordinary education. It has taken me a while to get my arms around these issues. As we finished our markup, I said to both Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman that a lot had not been clear to me as we went through the course of those hearings, but as we went through the course of the markup a number of issues, questions that had not been in focus for me, came into focus. I thank you for providing this extraordinary month and a half for us to prepare to offer this package to our colleagues in the Senate.”