Media Availability Following the 9-11 Commission Hearing

Federal News Service

HEADLINE: MEDIA AVAILABILITY FOLLOWING THE 9/11 COMMISSION HEARING

SPEAKERS: SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME); SENATOR KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R-TX); SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY); SENATOR GORDON SMITH (R-OR)

LOCATION: HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON D.C.

BODY:
SEN. MCCONNELL: All right. Well, we've all had an opportunity to watch Condoleezza Rice today. She was impressive, forthright, as all of us anticipated. There are a couple of observations I would make that I think are appropriate. And number one, prior to 9/11, Congress has certainly not been involved in having hearings on al Qaeda. No one was as alert as they-as we all wish in hindsight we would have been before 9/11. So it's, I think, more appropriate to focus on where we go from here. And clearly, the strategy post-9/11 is to go after the terrorists wherever they are, to try to drain the swamp, and to not focus exclusively on al Qaeda. Those critics who say that this is all about al Qaeda are missing the larger question, which is worldwide terrorism and countries that harbor terrorists. And I think Dr. Rice did an excellent job of defending the post-9/11 strategy, which is, indeed, to go after terrorists wherever they may be, and to keep them on defense. And while we fully expect that maybe someday once again we'll be attacked here at home, I think it's clear that the post-9/11 strategies of taking it to the terrorists and passing the Patriot Act, which gave us a chance after 9/11 to have the kind of interaction among our agencies that we didn't have before 9/11, it made a difference in making us more secure here at home.

With that, let me turn it over to Senator Collins.

SEN. COLLINS: Thank you. I thought that Dr. Rice's testimony was extremely effective. She answered every question very fully with a great deal of candor. And as a result, the commission and the American people have a much more complete picture of what the administration was working on in the first few months of its term and what its priorities were.

One of the most important points that Dr. Rice made was to point out to all of us that the very first major presidential security directive of the new administration dealt with the al Qaeda network and the need to confront that threat. I also think that she painted the picture of an administration that not only was concerned about this national security threat but also had a great deal else on its plate. For example, this was during the time when our P-3 was in captivity in China, when we were opening negotiations with Pakistan to try to deal with the terrorist threat. There was a great deal of activity under way to confront all of the threats facing our country.

I thought she did a superb job and helped to answer many of the questions that have been raised in recent weeks.

Q Senator McConnell, you mentioned that this is an effort to drain the swamp. In the testimony, the national security adviser said-alluded-said, well, this is part of what our activity is in Iraq. Yet that idea of changing fundamentally the Muslim world to be more amenable to the United States has still not been proven. And the situation in Iraq is even more volatile than it was some time ago. Is that an appropriate defense?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, a way of looking at it-interestingly enough, there was a recent survey taken by the BBC and I believe ABC of Iraqis, about how they feel about Iraq today and whether or not they're optimistic about the future of Iraq.

They're-overwhelmingly feel that Iraq is better today for them than it used to be. And they are extraordinarily optimistic about where they're going to be a year from now-a clear indication that Iraq is on the way to becoming one of-a sort of unique island in the Middle East where citizens get to choose their own leaders and get to speak freely.

Are there security problems? Obviously there are security problems. We haven't completely drained the swamp in Iraq yet. It's not an easy task. But there is no chance that we will leave prior to finishing the job in Iraq-no chance.

Q Senator, do you support the declassification of the August PDB, given that there are now on the record clear disagreements about what's in it?

SEN. MCCONNELL: I don't have an opinion on that. We'll have to wait and see what's worked out.

Q Do you have an opinion as to whether or not the American people should be able to clarify what-some of these disagreements by seeing the documents of --

SEN. MCCONNELL: My opinion is that the administration and the commission will continue to discuss those issues and hopefully be able to resolve them.

Q (Off mike.)

SEN. MCCONNELL: We haven't heard from Senator Smith yet.

SEN. SMITH: Thank you, Senator McConnell.

Ladies and gentlemen, I think it's important to say, as Republicans, that in what we've been through as a country, it's important not to ascribe blame to President Clinton or President Bush. This was an unprecedented attack upon our country, and no president, Republican or Democrat, would fail to act if they felt they could prevent the premeditated murder of 3,000 of our fellow citizens.

And unfortunately, in this political year, in this hyperpolitical environment, what we have seen is the politicalization of the testimony that has been given. And I think this is deeply unfortunate and very regrettable.

I think what we've all heard from Dr. Rice this morning, though, is a truthful account of someone who was in a pre-9/11 environment and in a post-9/11 environment, and a very earnest effort to do the very best job they could with the facts they had, with all the loose ends that were out there.

And I think when Mr. Clarke answered the question of Senator Gorton that had all his recommendations been taken, that we still could not have prevented 9/11, that said it all.

And anything more than that is about selling books and selling a political spin, and I think that that is most unfortunate. And hopefully the American people now have some counterbalance in how to judge all the facts. This isn't about blaming President Clinton. It's not about blaming President Bush.

Q Senator, do you support the declassification of the August PDB?

SEN. SMITH: I think, as Senator McConnell said, let them negotiate it. There may be information in there that is important to national security, but I think more information is better and would err on the side of disclosure. But I will leave that judgement to them.

Q What do you think of Senator Bob Kerrey's comments in there about the Iraq situation? What do you think about him using that platform, so to speak?

SEN. MCCONNELL: I didn't hear what he had to say.

SEN. SMITH: I didn't hear what Senator Kerrey said.

SEN. COLLINS: I did. (Laughs, laughter.)

SEN. SMITH: Oh, do you want to go?

SEN. COLLINS: How about -- (inaudible). (Laughs.)

SEN. SMITH: You're the unlucky one.

SEN. MCCONNELL: I was going the wrong way. Ask your question.

Q Senator, how much of the hearing did you hear?

SEN. MCCONNELL: I heard half of it.

SEN. COLLINS: Personally, or --

Q He said that military operations are "dangerously off track." (Off mike.)

SEN. MCCONNELL: What was the question again?

Q Bob Kerrey said the military operations in Iraq are "dangerously off track." Would you agree with that?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, look, Senator Kerrey's a member of the commission. He's doing a good job. I think to judge the situation in Iraq on any given day is a mistake. It's a long process, and there are good days and there are bad days. As Secretary Rumsfeld has pointed out, we've had a few bad days in the last couple of weeks. I predict many good days ahead. I think the swamp is in the process of being successfully drained.

Q Senator, you --

STAFF: Thank you very much. Thanks.

Q Can I have one last question, please? Senator, you said that she did the best with the facts that she had, and you have a report that-and this-you heard her report: unbelievable news in coming weeks, big event; it's going to be a very, very, very, very big uproar. There will be attacks in the near future. Was she derelict in not calling the big three, the CIA, the FBI together?

SEN. SMITH: I think the problem they had is it wasn't specific. There were no specifics in that. What's a "big event?" Is it a nuclear attack? Is it taking airplanes and flying them into the World Trade Center? How could anyone have really anticipated that? I always believed prior to 9/11 that hijackers wanted to live. I don't believe that anymore, and I think that that mind-set has changed for every American who's willing to be fair about the facts and what they were dealing with.

And as to the question about Iraq and its military situation, I think it's really important to understand that we're not losing this war.

In fact, most of the Iraqi people appreciate what we're doing and want us to be there and want us to succeed. And we don't hear enough of that in the media. And it's important that the American people hear that.

There are-there is clearly a segment of Iraq that was financially vested in Saddam Hussein and who want this to fail and who do hate Western values and who lose through democracy. But we are not losing this fight, and frankly, I think we're stepping up to the plate with this deadline in accelerating the actions of some of these people, drawing them out of their hiding places and getting us in a position where we can take them on so that we can turn this country over to a democratic process and ultimately have succeeded in one of the great foreign policy endeavors of this country since the ending of the Cold War.

SEN. HUTCHISON: Yes, let me just say that I am very pleased that Condi Rice came and did such a credible and good job of talking about where they were and the information they had. I think it is time, now that the commission is winding down its deliberations, getting all of the information, that we focus on the future.

Yes, we need to know what happened in the past. Yes, we need to know who knew what and when for protecting ourselves in the future. But I think we are diverted from the need to support our commander in chief, to support our troops in the field, to finish the job in Iraq. We must be united-that we cannot allow Iraq to fail. We cannot allow the instability to remain. And all of us should unite now and not focus completely without looking at the future on what happened and who knew what and when.

Q Senator Hutchison --

STAFF: Thank you very much. Thank you.

Q-was this a policy failure or was this a strategy-was this a policy failure or an intelligence failure?

SEN. HUTCHISON: It was an intelligence failure.