Date: 2006-09-13
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. I want to pick up on the litany of issues you were going through because we need to zero in on how we make ourselves safer because the other side is going to spend a lot of time and they are spending a lot of time claiming they are the party of national security and they are the ones that need to be entrusted to keep us safe. The last time I checked. that is who was in charge of keeping us safe. and they are not doing such a hot job. Mr. RYAN talked about how we like to use third party validators here. We absolutely do. I am going to use a thirdparty validator of Governor Kean. former Governor Kean of New Jersey who cochaired the bipartisan 9/11 Commission and Lee Hamilton. a former wellrespected Democratic Congressman who was the other cochair of the 9/11 Commission. Here is what they said on Monday. September 11. 2006. "As we mark the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Americans ask: Are we safer? Two years ago. the 9/11 Commission found that our government failed in its duty to protect us. The commission. which the two of us led. made 41 recommendations to ensure that this Nation does everything possible to protect its people. "Many of our recommendations. including those to reorganize the intelligence community. were written into law. Yet no law is selfexecuting. Implementation is often the harder step." We know that implementation is the job of the Congress. The 9/11 Commission couldnt recommend things into thin air and suddenly they would happen. They have to be adopted into law and funded. They continued. "We issued a report card on our recommendations in December. It included 10 Cs. 12 Ds. and 4 Fs. What we argued then." and this was September 11. 2006. 2 days ago. "is still true now: Americans are safer. but we are not yet safe. "So what do we need to do?" This is their words. not ours. "First. homeland security dollars must be allocated wisely. Right now. those funds are spread around like revenuesharing projects." We are basically using the opportunity to spend money on homeland security for turkeys. we used to call them in Florida. We call them earmarks here. That means little ittybitty projects. and every Member knows that there are potential security targets in their own district. but we dont nitpick homeland security. You dont spread the money around so thinly so you never make truly one area or region or community truly safe. They said that until Congress passes a law to allocate funding on the basis of risk and vulnerabilities. scarce dollars will continue to be squandered. "Second. States and localities need to have emergency response plans and practice them regularly. Hurricane Katrina taught us a lesson that we should have learned from September 11: From the moment disaster strikes. all first responders need to know what to do and who is in charge." Do they know that? No. "Third. we called on Congress to give first responders a slice of the broadcast spectrum ideal for emergency communications." That wont happen until 2009. What in Gods name are we waiting for? 2009? What happened to the interoperability in communications that was so essential that was the major problem on 9/11? I dont have time to go throughall of the recommendations. Mr. MEEK. because homeland security is so woefully lacking and the congressional leadership here has done. I cant even use that word. congressional leadership has done such a poor job of implementing their recommendations and making us safer that it is laughable. It is ridiculous. It is outrageous -for them to suggest that they are the party of national security and safety. I could go on and on.