Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
July 20, 2004 -- Page: S8434

MRS. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I want to talk today about the 9/11 Commission report, the war on terror, and the progress we have made since we were attacked 3 years ago in this country. For years, terrorists have attacked the United States with little or no reaction from us. We have highlighted time and time again the trail of terror that led to September 11, 2001.

In 1993, terrorists bombed the World Trade Center, killing 6 people and wounding more than 1,000. It is still not fully solved.

In 1996, terrorists bombed the U.S. military living quarters at Khobar Towers, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 brave Americans and wounding scores more--never solved.

In 1998, followers of Osama bin Laden attacked U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing and wounding hundreds--never solved.

In 2000, Osama bin Laden's followers attacked the U.S.S. Cole in a harbor in Yemen, killing 17 sailors and wounding 39 more--not solved.

Sadly, it took four hijacked airplanes being turned into weapons of mass destruction and the loss of nearly 3,000 innocent Americans and visitors to our country for us to resolve that we had been attacked, our way of life had been attacked, and the United States of America is going to fight back. We are in a war on terrorism.

The 9/11 Commission is going to report on Thursday, and we know there will be blame for everybody about the failure of our intelligence capabilities. The administration of President Bush provided unprecedented access and cooperation to the Commission because the President said we want to know what went wrong so we can make it right. The President himself said:

The 9/11 commission will issue a report this week and will lay out recommendations for reform of the intelligence services of the United States. I look forward to seeing those recommendations. They share the same desire that I share which is to make sure that Presidents and Congress get the best possible intelligence. I have spoken about the reforms, and some of the reforms are necessary--more human intelligence, better ability to listen and see things and better coordination among the various intelligence gathering services.

This is what President Bush said about the 9/11 Commission. He went further to say:

Based on published accounts, we expect the commission report will show that government institutions failed to adapt to the threat of terrorism over more than a decade, enabling terrorists to exploit dangerous weaknesses in our defenses. We expect the commission to confirm that the blame for the 9/11 attacks lies squarely and exclusively with al-Qaida. It is clear as the threat of international terrorism evolved over more than a decade that our national security and counterterrorism institutions did not resolve to meet the threat under both Republican and Democratic administrations, Republican and Democratic Congresses. The kind of systematic changes and reform that might have made it more difficult for the terrorists to strike on 9/11 did not take place.

We have established that we can put the blame everywhere--in Congress, with Republicans, with Democrats, with administrations of the past and administrations of the present. We have taken some steps already as the Commission hearings have resolved.

We have taken the steps of implementing a new policy on terrorism by holding to account terrorist groups and the states that sponsor them and not allowing dangerous threats to gather overseas unchecked. We have cut off their money supply in many instances where we could with cooperation from allies.

We have transformed the FBI into an agency focused on preventing terrorist attacks through intelligence collection and other efforts while also trying to help it perform its traditional role as a world-class law enforcement agency for investigating terrorism and other crimes.

We conducted the largest reorganization of the Federal Government since 1947 by creating the Department of Homeland Security, bringing unparalleled focus and resources to homeland security efforts.

We have dramatically increased security on airplanes and other transportation systems on our borders and in our ports, providing significantly increased support for America's first responders.

We have broken down the unnecessary ``wall'' between law enforcement and intelligence gathering with the USA PATRIOT Act and with internal procedures and guidelines that are reformed so that our intelligence agencies and our law enforcement agencies can do their job without artificial restrictions that would keep them from doing something as simple as tracing through cell phones potential terrorists who are planning some kind of action against innocent law-abiding Americans.

We are going to challenge these security issues. We are not going to ignore them. We are not going to wait for a future tragedy.

Recently, President Bush articulated three commitments in our strategy for peace.

First, we are defending the peace by taking the fight to the enemy. We are not sitting here waiting for the enemy to come back to America; we are taking the fight where the enemy is. We are taking the fight to the Taliban resurgents in Afghanistan. We are taking the fight to Iraq where, Heaven knows, we have seen the brutality of Saddam Hussein in his support for terrorists by giving $25,000 rewards to suicide bombers in Israel.

Second, we are protecting the peace by working with friends and allies and international institutions to isolate and confront terrorists and outlaw regimes. We are laser-beam focused in the war on terrorism.

We are working with the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and other international organizations to take action for our common security. We are not facing a security threat just in the United States; we are facing a security threat to every freedom-loving country. Every country that lives in freedom is a target. We have seen it in bombings throughout the world, and recently in Spain.

Third, we are extending the peace by supporting the rise of democracy.

It is absolutely proven that in democratic and successful societies, men and women will not allow the malcontent and zealots and murderers to stay among them. They turn their labor to rebuilding and to better lives.

Is there one person in the world who has children who doesn't want the best for them? Is there a person in the world who doesn't want an education for their children so their children will have a better life than they did? Is there one person in the world who doesn't want that? It is clear that the way to get education for every child and a quality of life that would be good for every child to grow up in is democracy and freedom. That is how you get it. That is what we are trying to provide. We are doing it in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq where they haven't known freedom for years. We have some successes.

Look at Afghanistan. Three years ago, Afghanistan was the home base of al-Qaida, ruled by the Taliban, the most cruel of regimes imaginable. The things they did to women and children are unimaginable in our country. Today, Afghanistan is looking at a presidential election this fall. The terror camps are closed. The Afghan Government is helping us to hunt down the remnants of the Taliban. The American people are safer because Afghanistan is now stabilized with a great President, Hamid Karzai, who wants for his people the same thing that everybody wants--freedom, democracy, education, good health care, jobs, and an economy. He is trying to provide it, and we are helping him, and we are safer because of it.

Let us look at Pakistan. Three years ago, Pakistan was a country that openly recognized the Taliban. Al-Qaida was active. They were recruiting in Pakistan. The United States was not on really good terms with Pakistan at that time, but today, we see a great ally in Pakistan. President Musharraf is a friend to our country. He is making reforms in Pakistan and trying to root out the same Taliban/al-Qaida network in the remote regions that have terrorized Afghanistan and, in fact, have hurt the people of Pakistan as well. It was Pakistan that helped us capture Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the planner of the 9/11 attack on America.

Who could say we are not safer today because we have an alliance with Pakistan and an alliance and a stake in the stability of Afghanistan?

Iraq, 3 years ago; where were the people of Iraq? The ruler of Iraq was an enemy of our country. He was a mass murderer. He had used weapons of mass destruction on his own people.

Today, we see pictures of him in a system of justice which he never allowed his own people. But he is going to have justice. It is going to be given justice by the people he treated so horribly. The people of Iraq are seeking justice.

The people of America are safer because Saddam Hussein is gone. He is not giving $25,000 to the family of a suicide bomber to blow up a bus in Israel and kill children. We are safer because there will be elections in Iraq. By next January, we will see the people of Iraq speaking about their own government. In fact, U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan has named a career diplomat to the post that has been vacant since suicide bombers blew up the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad last August, killing the last U.N. representative there. America is safer because Saddam Hussein is behind bars and because his sons are no longer torturing and maiming hundreds of people in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia, 3 years ago; Saudi Arabia had terrorists within its midst and they were looking the other way. Today, Saudi Arabia says they are trying to find the attackers. They are finally realizing the growth of these terrorist regimes hurt their people, too. We are going to try to help Saudi Arabia in every way they ask us to help, to root out the terrorists who have fomented in their country.

If there is no place for the terrorists to hide in the Middle East, and if people are starting to see an economy, and if there are democracies emerging in places such as Iraq, it will change the course of the whole Middle East.

Libya, 3 years ago; Libya, a longtime supporter of terror, was spending millions of dollars to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons. Today, thousands of Libya's chemical munitions have been destroyed. The Libyan Government finally saw that the civilized world was not going to sit back any longer and let it continue to proliferate weapons of mass destruction. Muammar Qadhafi, in Libya, said: We are going to abandon any chance for nuclear weapons to be produced in our country.

We are seeing the breakdown of the terrorist regimes, one by one, in the Middle East. Why are we seeing the regimes go away and the beginnings of democracy come forward? Because our President has been focused. He has not relented in the war on terrorism. He has not relented in his responsibility to protect the people of America. Everything he has done has been with one goal in mind and that is to protect the people of America. That is the President's focus and that is why we are as far along as we are.

Let me read from an AP story about the success of the newly emerging Iraq stock exchange. From the AP on Sunday, July 18:

The miniature Liberty Bell clanged. Elbows flew. Sweat poured down foreheads. Sales tickets were passed and, with the flick of the wrist, 10,000 shares of the Middle East Bank has more than doubled in value.

The frantic pace Sunday of those first 10 minutes of trading typified the enthusiasm behind the Iraq Stock Exchange--a new institution seen as a critical step in building a new Iraqi economy.

In just five sessions, trading volume has nearly quadrupled and the value of some stocks has surged more than 600 percent. .....

The exchange's chief executive, as he eyed the activity on the trading floor, which is housed in a converted restaurant because looters had gutted the old exchange, looked out and said: How can I not be excited about this?

The unofficial figures of the day's trade tell the story. Over 10 million equivalent dollars in stocks changed hands, reflecting the movement of 1.43 million shares--although only 27 companies are listed on the exchange.

That is just one more step in the stabilization of Iraq. America is going to stay to help Iraq as they recover from the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. As long as we are asked to stay to stabilize, we will be there. When we are no longer needed with the allies that are staying with us, we will happily leave that country in the hands of trained military personnel for security and in the hands of elected democratic leaders selected by the vote of the people.

Today, we see the emerging of the temporary government of Sunnis and Shiites and Kurds, working together to create a unified Iraq that will be able to hold elections for that country.

We have more to do. We all know we have more work to do. Our President has done so much in 3 years, rebuilding the areas of New York that were hit by terrorists, building up our security network, spending billions for homeland security, focusing on airline, airplane, and airport security, port security.

We live in a big country. We live in a free country. It is hard to get control in a free country of every potential site that a terrorist might attack. But because we are free, the people of our country are stepping up to the plate, too; they are helping. They are being vigilant. They are looking for things that are strange and reporting them. We believe attacks have been averted because of the vigilance of the President and Congress and the people of the United States.

We must remain a united country. When I hear some of the debates in the political arena, it is as if people are saying, we are two different countries; we are a divided country.

We are not a divided country. We need leaders who recognize we are not a divided country. We are a unified country. We need leaders who will unify America and talk to the people about what we can do together that will make us stronger, standing up and celebrating our diversity, showing how it can work in a free and democratic society. That is what we are proving by leading as unifiers.

We have a President of the United States who ifor security and unification of our country. We must work with the President as a united Congress to combat terrorism for the security of our people.