Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, we do not know yet what brought down TWA 800. But of course the probabilities are that it was a bomb. We do not know who planted the bomb at the Olympics. Maybe it was somebody mentally deranged, maybe a terrorist. We do not know yet who killed our troops in Saudi Arabia, but that clearly was an act of terrorism. We do not need to know all the answers to these questions to know that the American people expect action now, and this bill responds to that demand from the American people. This bill is not a panacea. It is but a step in the right direction. Indeed, with regard to the aviation security provisions of this bill, once again, these have been crafted in a bipartisan basis, working with my colleagues, particularly the ranking member of our committee, the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar]. The majority and the minority have been full partners in crafting the aviation security provisions for this bill. We need to emphasize that today there are serious gaps in our aviation security system. Even though we have passed several pieces of legislation in the past dealing with security, we need to focus more attention on bomb detection capabilities and, indeed, an awful lot yet remains to be done. So this bill is but a step in the right direction. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it.”