Political Quotes

“I very briefly want to speak to a meeting that the leadership, not just elected leadership but leadership and interested parties, both Democrats and Republicans, had yesterday with the President of the United States, with the Senate and House represented. It was a very good meeting. The focus of that meeting was to discuss the President's views, his plans to reform the intelligence community. The focus of this body for a long time, but very specifically since the 9/11 Commission report recommendations were made, has been on the safety and security of the American people as it is reflected in the 9/11 Commission report and our study of that report. Between the House and the Senate, over 20 different hearings were held during August. I thank our colleagues for working very hard in collecting information and assessing people's ideas and thoughts from experts from around the world--from around the country and around the world--on the recommendations that were made by the 9/11 Commission. Our meeting yesterday was another step at the committee level and on the floor of the Senate, as we are on the Homeland Security bill and as we address other bills, and in meetings such as at the White House. There is a real bipartisan commitment to making progress, not a knee- jerk reaction but progress on intelligence reform.”