Jay Rockefeller: “for almost a week now the Senate has been debating the appropriations bill for the Department of Defense. Several…”

“for almost a week now the Senate has been debating the appropriations bill for the Department of Defense. Several amendments have been offered regarding the need to determine the accuracy of our pre-war intelligence and the use of that intelligence by the Executive--specifically, a reference in the President's State of the Union message that has now been acknowledged to be erroneous. I want to take a few minutes to comment on some of these continuing questions regarding the accuracy of pre-war intelligence which became a part of the public debate soon following the invasion of Iraq. I have worked with Chairman Roberts to find a bipartisan approach to reviewing these issues. On June 20 we reached agreement on the terms of reference for what was by then an ongoing inquiry. I had proposed a broader, more formal approach but after some discussion agreed to proceed with a structured review and see where the information led us. The committee has been poring through the volumes of material provided by the intelligence community and interviewing relevant officials, and has held two closed hearings and one briefing. But as this process has moved forward it has become increasing clear that a business as usual, oversight review is not going to be able to address our expanding appreciation of the scope of the problem.”