Daniel Inouye: “according to press reports last evening one of the principal advisors to the President, Mr. Karl Rove, criticized…”

“according to press reports last evening one of the principal advisors to the President, Mr. Karl Rove, criticized Democrats for failing to respond to the attacks on 9/11. He is reported to have said that the Democratic Party did not understand the consequences of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He is quoted saying, ``Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers, Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war.'' Oftentimes in press reports, words are taken out of context or simply misquoted. I would hope that is the case here. I would hope that the views that were reported to have been expressed do not really represent the thoughts of Mr. Rove and certainly not the President of the United States. It is not often that I come to the floor to question what someone might have said. My view is that most of the time it is better to just remain silent and not to dignify the remarks which might have been made in the heat of partisan rhetoric, but this is a bit different. All of us who were in the Congress at that time recall 9/11 vividly. Like all Americans we saw the jet liners crash into the Twin Towers on our televisions and we could all see the smoke rising from the Pentagon just across the river. Perhaps Mr. Rove forgets what that day was like as we evacuated our offices and tried to maintain an aura of calm for the American public.…”