Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, the fact that the American intelligence apparatus is broken is well-known. In the global war on terror, the…”

“Mr. Speaker, the fact that the American intelligence apparatus is broken is well-known. In the global war on terror, the most important weapon we have to protect the Nation and its people is intelligence. Today, more than ever, we must make the creation of a strong and flexible intelligence apparatus one of the highest priorities of this body. The terrorist attacks of September 11, combined with the continuing threat of further attacks, underscore the importance of this legislation. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the bill reported out of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence falls far short of what our intelligence community has requested and what the American people expect. Now listen up. This bill provides less than a third of the key operational funding the intelligence agencies have told us that they need to prevent the next terrorist attack. The scheme for funding the counterterrorism operations is to give the agencies, listen, I want my colleagues to hear this, they are going to give them a third of the money they need, and then after the election they will come back and ask for the other two-thirds. Does this sound like we are concerned about the intelligence community? Does it sound like we are worried that we are at war? The answer is no. The election is the deciding point on when we come back and ask for the money.”