"The report released today by the 9/11 Commission clearly holds that neither President Clinton nor President Bush was responsible for failing to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But the Commission does point to a dramatic lack of imagination to envision the full scope of what a host of prior terrorist events meant for the homeland of the United States and there was a real failure to connect the dots that might have led to a revelation of the 9/11 plot.

There are several important recommendations made for reorganizing our government to help in the battle against terror. I agree with their finding that the 15 intelligence agencies must be managed by a Director of National Intelligence who has the budgetary and statutory authority to accomplish the job. I have introduced bipartisan legislation to create such a position and hope that this report will help get the bill passed.

I also agree with the recommendation to create a National Counterterrorism Center that would unify strategic intelligence and operational planning by combining the work of a number of different agencies.

Additionally, I agree that Congress must carry out its intelligence oversight in a much more comprehensive and effective way. I am open to the idea of a joint Select Senate-House Committee on Intelligence provided that this committee is adequately staffed and empowered to do the job right. I also firmly believe that the intelligence budget should be both authorized and appropriated through the Intelligence Committee and that this is the only way to provide meaningful oversight."