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Guest Commentary May 17, 2002
Quieting Terrorism Rhetoric
The Honorable Trent Lott
We just had a fantastic ceremony in the Rotunda of the Capitol presenting Mrs. Reagan the Congressional Gold Medal for President Reagan and for Nancy Reagan. It was a beautiful ceremony attended by Republicans and Democrats. I think we all agree that he was an unusual President and a great President. He did make us proud again. Democrats were there, and they said, while we may not agree with him philosophically, we agree that he did a great number of good things during his time as President.
President Reagan lifted our country when we had a lot of despair, morale was low, and freedom was kind of under attack. He banished that. He rose above it. He made us proud again, and he led the way in getting rid of the "blame America first" crowd. He said: That is poisoning the American spirit; let's not do that.
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Much to my outrage, I have heard a chorus reminding me of that "blame America first" that I thought President Reagan had helped us put on the ash heap of history and get rid of once and for all. I think there is nothing more despicable -- and that is a tame word compared to what I really feel -- in American politics than for someone to insinuate the President of the United States knew that an attack on our country was imminent and did nothing to stop it.
Now, there is a lot of revisionist history, people insinuating that President Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor. I do not know all the facts of what went on then, but I do not believe that. I would never believe that. I have to say, does anybody really think that this President, or any President of either party, at any time, would know that we were going to be attacked and not take necessary actions to try to deal with it? I do not believe the American people really think that. I know it is not accurate.
The President, Members of Congress, the Intelligence Committee, leadership, we get threat assessments daily. They come in every day, and they get to be pretty depressing if you get to reading them. When getting the briefings every day, you have to assess them: Are they serious, not serious? Should we take actions? Do we put out a notice? What do we do with them?
I get nervous that we put too much in the press. We tell the terrorists, who may not have an idea of where we are vulnerable: Oh, by the way, why don't you try this?
Why don't you come after our ports? I worry a tramp steamer will come into the Port of Baltimore loaded with explosives and blow half of Baltimore away. I worry about my hometown. These are serious threats. We have a lot of work to do.
I have an expectation that we need to ask our law enforcement agencies -- the INS, the Customs Service, the FBI, the CIA -- how did this happen? Why didn't we know more? Should we have gone to a higher alert? CIA, were you talking to the FBI? We found out we had laws that made it hard for that to happen. We have taken action to make sure they hand off and communicate and use each other's resources.
I have no doubt in my mind the FBI needs a lot of reform. I don't think they are up to date with technology and other problems. But Director Mueller is trying to correct that. Maybe they knew something in Phoenix they didn't know in Washington. Is there a way to integrate everything?
A couple of days ago, the Director said we will have a superoffice to bring in this information and make sure we look at it all and see if there is a pattern.
I think we should ask questions. We have an Intelligence Committee, House and Senate, meeting; Senator Graham, Senator Shelby, and the House side will get into this. By the way, I think the FBI and CIA should not delay turning over information. They should cooperate. It should not be about blaming someone.
We could say it goes back to the Church Commission in the 1970s. That is when we did damage to the intelligence communities. Or it was during the Clinton administration. The important thing is not how we get there, but what we are going to do. What are we doing about it today? What actions do we take to make sure the intelligence information is properly accumulated and evaluated and we can take action?
Someone deserves a medal for the fact we have not been hit again since September 11. I have been worried thinking something was going to happen. Why hasn't it happened? Because the INS and the Justice Department, the FBI, picked up people. They have taken certain threats seriously. They picked up mules delivering information. Probably there are commendations in order for the last 6 months, but I am worried about what will happen next. It could happen tomorrow. Then we will say it was the Bush administration, when we need to put more resources into it. We need to help our first responders.
The Intelligence Committee voted to add $1 billion to the intelligence funding. We are still exposed. When we have terrorists, suicide bombers as in Israel, willing to blow themselves up to kill innocent men, women, and children, it is hard to prevent it. When we hear the noise and daily threat assessments, it is worse, and we do not know which should be taken seriously.
To talk as if our enemy is George W. Bush instead of Osama bin Laden is not right. We get partisan and political sometimes around here talking about a delayed bill or stimulus bill, but in the fight against terrorism we have risen above that, for the most part. ...
I am disturbed by this attack that I think is uncalled for. It is very malicious in its sound. I hope we will stop that. Let's not go down that course. Let's keep the pattern of working together. Let's not start impugning the motives of the President of the United States.
Was there anyone here that did not realize we were threatened a year ago by the possibility of an airliner being taken hostage? Hijacked? Who among us thought they might actually use it as a missile to fly into a building? I got a lot of briefings. Is it my fault? Should I have known more? We should knock down the rhetoric. Yes, it is a political season, an election year. But this is serious. We should not be doing this.
Trent Lott, a Republican, is a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and the Senate Minority Leader. The above commentary has been adapted from a speech Sen. Lott delivered on the floor of the Senate, May 16, 2002. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
