Political Quotes

“from the beginning of the homeland security debate, after studying evidence and listening to Oregonians, my priorities have been clear. Strengthening the capacity of our government agencies to defend our nation from terrorist attacks is necessary and vital to our society. Our nation will benefit from better communication among federal agencies and from improved safety of air travel, our borders, our ports, and our water supplies. However, we must develop a focused strategy to protect our nation rather than taking cosmetic actions. We need to address the intelligence failures that led up to the event of September 11. We need to work with local governments to coordinate responses to future attacks. The proposed Department does not address either. A massive restructuring of the federal government will not necessarily improve the security of our nation. As has been documented time and again in jarring detail by the news media, the FBI and CIA were not properly coordinated before September 11. This enormous reorganization, rather than dealing with fundamental problems between these two agencies, adds a third governmental department to the uncoordinated mix. My own experience is that government reorganizations are difficult and complex. There are many demands on employees and stripping away workers' protecting will only create friction and uncertainty.”