Bennie Thompson: “Homeland security is not a red or blue State issue. It is a red, white and blue issue. It is an American issue. When al…”

“Homeland security is not a red or blue State issue. It is a red, white and blue issue. It is an American issue. When al Qaeda struck us 5 years ago, it did not distinguish its victims. The terrorists did not care if you were from a red or blue State. Party distinctions mattered little to terrorists. Mother nature, too, had little use for arbitrary partisan labels as we learned with Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Those terrible storms inflicted suffering on all the people of the gulf coast. The American people expect that homeland security is one of our top national priorities, and the 9/11 Commission, the bipartisan panel we created, said it must be a priority. Congress told that panel to get to the bottom of what happened on 9/11 and give us a road map to guard against future attacks. They did their part, Madam Speaker. This do-nothing, do-over Congress, squandered time and resources and is now trying to pass off do-little rhetoric as real action.”