Political Quotes

“I rise to lend my strong and unequivocal support to the amendment offered by the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This is an amendment which seeks to protect our citizens from the imminent threats emanating from a state sponsor of terrorism, a declared enemy of the United States in our own backyard. On Tuesday of just this week, President Bush presented his national strategy for homeland security, and in it he outlined what is the beginning of a long and difficult struggle to protect our Nation from the threat of terrorism. It establishes a foundation upon which to organize our efforts and it provides initial guidance to prioritize the work ahead, and two of the most important objectives include preventing terrorist attacks within the United States and reducing America's vulnerability to terrorism. The Goss amendment before us, Mr. Chairman, accomplishes just that. The Castro dictatorship, a totalitarian regime long known to be a safe haven for terrorists and a nerve center for international espionage, is a continuing and growing threat to our national security that we cannot afford to underestimate. We must be acutely aware of the reality that the closest foreign staging ground friendly to terrorist elements is a mere 90 miles from our borders.”