| July 23, 2004 |
Congresswoman Kay Granger (R – Fort Worth) issued the following statement in response to the 9/11 Commission Report today:
"Each member of Congress must read the 9/11 Commission Report. We should consider the report in the context of what has been done since 9/11. We should assess what we are doing better since 9/11 and use the report to see what still needs to be done.
It’s absolutely unacceptable that our intelligence was not better and that we did not piece together what facts were available.
Ultimately, the most important thing that can come out of the various commissions’ reports are recommendations for how the United States can improve its intelligence and continue to improve security of our airways.
We should not be defensive, political or partisan in dealing with the findings that the 9/11 report identifies. The blame for the 9/11 attacks lays squarely and exclusively with the Al-Qaeda network.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee on Homeland Security and House Select Committee on Homeland Security, I can tell you we have better safeguards in place than we did on September 10, 2001. We’ve created the Department of Homeland Security, restructured the FBI to focus on prevention, and we have a worldwide Coalition to defeat terrorism.
In responding to a terrorist attack, there are only two choices – take the fight to the enemy or wait until they hit you again. America chose the first."