Peter King

I think it's important if it was a leak we find out who did it because there's such sensitive information here.

If this had been a success -- well, I figures, I was talking to someone today who was very much involved in it, saying if this happened prior to 9/11, there's no doubt at all this would have been a success.

They have skilled scientists and other people with advanced degrees who are working on a regular basis to try to get ahead of us.

This was a key victory for us. It also reminds us, though, you know, this war is not going to end in Afghanistan.

Obviously a concern would be that being nonmetallic as to whether or not this could evade security in our airports.

This war's not going to end in Afghanistan. This is -- al Qaeda has metastasized and morphed, and they are constantly attempting to find new ways at get at us.

This was a key victory for us.

I think it's important, if it was a leak, we find out who did it, because there's such sensitive information here.

It also appears somehow this was leaked, because I don't know what your sources are telling you, but if you were going around this afternoon, very few people knew anything about it, even those in prominent positions, people in the…

I can tell you myself and no other member of Congress knew anything about this, including me, until this afternoon.

The second, equally faulty assumption of these hearings is that someone who is particularly devout in his or her Islamic faith, as you have said, is well on the way to becoming a terrorist.

The purpose of this hearing was to hear from the community. If the gentlelady is interested in getting classified information or security-based information, we have briefings all the time.

The reason we have to have the hearings is, to me, the denial of a reality.

What we are saying is, that the leading terrorist threat today comes from certain people who are Muslims.

90 percent of the terrorist crimes are carried out by 1 percent of the population.

The leading threat to this country today comes from supporters of al-Qaeda. Supporters of al-Qaeda are Muslims.

Our worst enemies in America, I would argue, are Muslim interest groups and leaders, who do more to deny the problem of Muslim extremism than to defeat it.

The committee's hearings have represented a chance for U.S. Muslims to break out of the culture of denial and acknowledge the extremism in our community.

At this key moment for our country, the worst attack on us in history, these people who I thought were my friends were talking about Zionists and conspiracies.

I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle share that belief and remember the words of President Bush in the days after September 11.

I hope these hearings did not help provide a Congressional stamp of approval for groups that espouse anti-Muslim beliefs.

I hope these hearings did not encourage a belief among Americans that their fellow citizens are inherently dangerous because of religious affiliation.

I hope that these hearings did not perpetuate the notion that the United States is at war with Islam.

I lost more than 150 neighbors, friends, and constituents on September 11 and I never want it on my conscience that I didn't do all that I could to prevent another attack or that I caved in to political correctness.

So, when President Obama says all options are on the table to prevent the emergence of a nuclear-armed Iran, there is every reason to believe him, and it would be a serious mistake for Iran or anyone else to doubt American resolve.