Chris Sununu: “I rise at this time as we head toward a vote on final passage to voice my strong support for this legislation. But…”

“I rise at this time as we head toward a vote on final passage to voice my strong support for this legislation. But equally important, I wish to pay tribute to the work of Senator Lieberman and Senator Collins in fashioning this legislation in a bipartisan way. I am pleased to serve on the Governmental Affairs Committee with both of them. This has been put together in a way that reflects the core recommendations of the September 11 Commission. It takes our intelligence-gathering system and creates a strong intelligence director but gives that director the kind of budget and personnel responsibility that will enable him to be effective as we continue to fight a long war on terrorism--a global fight the length of which we can't determine right now but whose priority and importance is undisputed. It takes all of the assets of our intelligence-gathering network--the assets that serve our national intelligence operation but puts them under the national intelligence director--and gives that director the authority and the flexibility that is going to be necessary to be effective. It deals with important issues such as border security and transportation today under the responsibility of the Commerce Committee. It creates a counterterrorism center--something that has already been done.…”