WASHINGTON   –  “An airliner landed in Detroit on Christmas Day with 288 passengers and one man, Farouk Abdulmutallab, who had attempted to blow the plane right out of the sky.  Then, in April, a U.S. naturalized citizen, Faisal Shahzad, parked a sport-utility vehicle in New York City’s Times Square.  His truck was loaded with explosives and fertilizer meant to kill dozens, even hundreds.  Both attempts at terrorist acts failed, but they failed by slim margins of chance and incompetence.

The difference between a Times Square bombing and the Times Square filed bombing was a faulty detonator, the wrong fertilizer and the awareness of some brave bystanders.

The difference between a Christmas Day airline bombing and the failed bombing was the faulty construction of a bomb and the quick actions of passengers and crew members.

The reality is stark: we are getting closer and closer to another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, despite the best efforts of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The Times Square bombing attempt also reveals a change in tactics from the fundamental extremists targeting our nation – their recruits are seeking citizenship, acquiring basic training from terrorist groups, and hoping to turn the civil liberties of our freedom-loving nation into vulnerabilities they can exploit for an agenda of hatred and terror.

When Faisal Shahzad is convicted of this crime, his U.S. citizenship should be revoked. Shahzad became a citizen under false pretenses, and he has violated the very oath of citizenship he should have been honored to take.  In addition to whatever punishment is doled out for his crimes, voiding Shahzad’s citizenship tells the world that U.S. citizenship is precious to us.  We have standards for naturalization, and violating those standards is a serious matter.

At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice have to increase their vigilance.  Incremental changes to U.S. security measures won’t always be enough to prevent terrorists from getting one step ahead of us.  But major changes may be necessary to prevent them from getting three or four steps ahead.

The worst encouragement to the terrorist groups targeting the U.S. population on our own soil is simple vulnerability.  When groups like the Taliban and al-Qaeda observe these near-successes at killing scores of American civilians with rudimentary bombs, they take note.  They learn, they adapt their methods, and they modify their programs to get closer to achieving the death they wish upon us.

Our resolve to stop them must be stronger than their desire to kill us.  Our methods must improve.  Our defenses must get smarter.

This is the job of some of the most intelligent people in the employment of the federal government.  They have a huge responsibility to the American people, and they need a similarly strong commitment from the political leadership in the administration to prevent the attacks that, today, seem closer to execution than they have in several years.”