Maxwell Frost: “Never again will the United States be caught unawares and lay herself open to terrorist attack. That is certainly a…”

“Never again will the United States be caught unawares and lay herself open to terrorist attack. That is certainly a principle that every Member of this House and Senate should take to mind as we move to plug the holes in our security. Since last fall, I have supported the concept of a Cabinet-level status for the Director of Homeland Security so that he or she can get the funds, can compel the cooperation and coordination necessary among the Federal agencies, but now we are rushing through a bill to create the largest Federal bureaucracy in 50 years. Is that the proper response and answer, 170,000 employees who will ultimately some day be merged together into one joint building that will be built somewhere in the Washington, D.C., area? How will it work in the interim? Big question. It does not deal with the two agencies most culpable and most problematic in the attacks, the FBI and the CIA, the failures of intelligence, the failures that were so much in the headlines before this Department was proposed by the White House that they changed their position. Now it will plug the leaks that made us aware of the failings of the CIA and FBI by repealing whistleblower protections and FOIA efforts for this agency.”