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Snowe Statement on Presidential Address on National Security
Jan 08, 2010 (Congressional Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) --
Washington, D.C. -
U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and its Subcommittee on Aviation, issued the following statement today after the President released reports outlining the egregious breach of national security on Christmas Day:
"It is appalling that we have not learned from our mistakes, eight years after the worst terror attacks in our nation's history. With our abundance of technological tools and intelligence gathering capabilities, it is inexcusable Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded that aircraft. The colossal breakdown in communication and lack of information sharing and analysis among the bureaucracies of our nation's intelligence community led to this latest attempt, as well as the shooting at Fort Hood on November 5. It must not be permitted to happen again.
"When Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act in 2004, I said at the time that 'there is no question that the Intelligence Community requires systemic changes' and that 'better information sharing and greater accountability desperately need to be addressed.' The reports released today make abundantly clear that we have an obligation to transform the bureaucracy that still afflicts our intelligence apparatus.
"When we established the Department of Homeland Security in 2004, I fought for the creation of an Inspector General to provide independent, aggressive, and vigorous oversight across the entire intelligence community, because I was profoundly concerned the system's bureaucratic culture could result in the kind of failings that culminated with the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day. Yet that effort was vehemently opposed. Now here we are today, still lacking this critical oversight five years later and I continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure that the Inspector General position will finally be established as part of the Intelligence Authorization bill which Congress has repeatedly failed to pass.
"As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I will conduct a thorough and exhaustive investigation of the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack to gather all the relevant facts and make recommendations to fix the egregious intelligence breakdowns highlighted during that incident. As I urged in 2004, it is equally important that the intelligence community greatly enhance its ability to challenge predetermined ideas and conduct alternative analyses or 'red teaming' to adapt to a constantly changing, adept, and committed enemy."
Senator Snowe will participate in Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack that are expected to begin on January 21. As part of its investigation, the committee will collect all intelligence related to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab held by various intelligence agencies in order to determine who had what, and how the information was handled.
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