Statement By U.S. Senator Feinstein
- On Concerns Raised About Possible Terrorist
Attacks on Our Nation -
May 17, 2002

"I am very surprised by the tone of the comments by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer regarding concerns I raised last summer about a possible terrorist attack on our nation and the need to reorganize our counter-terrorism and homeland defense efforts to try to head off a possible calamity.

In the wake of the September 11^th attacks, the issue is too important to our nation to engage in the kind of politics Mr. Fleischer is practicing. I, for one, do not believe that any of our nation's leadership had specific information last summer to know when and what kind of attack to anticipate.

What I said last July on CNN was that I was deeply concerned as to whether our house was in order to prevent a terrorist attack. My work on the Intelligence Committee and as chair of the Technology and Terrorism Subcommittee had given me a sense of foreboding for some time. I had no specific data leading to a possible attack.

In fact, I was so concerned that I contacted Vice President Cheney's office that same month to urge that he restructure our counter-terrorism and homeland defense programs to ensure better accountability and prevent important intelligence information from slipping through the cracks.

Despite repeated efforts by myself and staff, the White House did not address my request. I followed this up last September 2001 before the attacks and was told by 'Scooter' Libby that it might be another six months before he would be able to review the material. I told him I did not believe we had six months to wait.

I believed last summer, and continue to believe today that the system is seriously broken and needs to be fixed. One prime example is the memo sent July 10, 2001 by an FBI agent from Phoenix urging further examination of the questionable students at flight schools who may have had links to terrorists.

This memo was very consequential and should have been analyzed at the highest levels of the intelligence community. Sadly it was not.

More than a year ago, I suggested establishing a new head of Homeland Security, and I have introduced legislation that would give this person--now Governor Ridge--statutory and budget authority. I've also been working on legislation to create a new strong and independent head of the Intelligence Community separate from the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. I plan to introduce this legislation next week

The American people deserve and need an individual whose sole role is to be responsible and accountable for decisions and activities that occur throughout the entire intelligence community.

Currently, the head of the Intelligence Community and the Central Intelligence Agency is the same person. I do not believe it is possible for one person to perform these two functions at the same time and do them well.

The lack of a strong, effective and independent head of the intelligence community has resulted in a community that is fragmented and uncoordinated and, as a result, not as effective as it can and must be.

It is my hope that the Administration and Congress can work together to solve the critical security problems facing our nation, rather than playing the blame game."