Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Ninth District, IL

 

 

 
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Press Release
 

APRIL 14, 2004
 

SCHAKOWSKY: BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY – 
4/13/04 PRESIDENTIAL NEWS CONFERENCE
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) issued today’s “Bush Administration’s Misstatement of the Day” in response to President Bush’s 4/13/04 Primetime news conference.

Pre 9/11 Intelligence:

President Bush said: “I wanted [George] Tenet in the Oval Office all the time. And we had briefings about terrorist threats… The way my administration worked …was that I met with Tenet all the time.”
At today’s 9/11 Commission hearing, however, CIA Director Tenet testified that he did not speak to the President during August 2001, the same month that the President received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.”  According to AP:
Questioned by former Rep. Tim Roemer, D-Ind., Tenet said he did not speak with President Bush during August, 2001, a period marked by concern over possible terrorist attacks. "He was on vacation and I was here," Tenet said, although he also added that he could have picked up the phone and called the president at any time if he had felt a need to do so.  (AP, 4/14/04)
Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction:
Asked to respond how his Administration got it so “wrong” that “Iraq not only had weapons of mass destruction but, as Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said, ‘we know where they are,’” President Bush did not answer the question, and instead repeated his claim that one of the reasons the United States went to war with Iraq was because Saddam Hussein “refused to disarm.” 
But according to Bush’s former weapons inspector, David Kay, there remains “no evidence Iraq had stockpiled unconventional weapons before the U.S.-led invasion in March.” (CNN, 4/14/04)
Homeland Security Department:
Responding to a question about whether he felt any “personal responsibility for September 11th,” President Bush said he grieves for “the incredible loss of life,” and added: “It's easy for a president to stand up and say, now that I know what happened, it would have been nice if there were certain things in place. For example, a Homeland Security Department.” 
However, for months after the 9/11 tragedy, President Bush had opposed the creation of a cabinet agency for homeland security. (CNN, 6/6/02)
 


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