Larsen Statement on the 9/11 Commission Report

Larsen Statement on the 9/11 Commission Report

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement on the 9/11 Commission Report after atttending a briefing on it by the Chair and Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission.

"The 9/11 Commission Report is a somber read and ends with clear recommendations for making America safer. The real ending will be what elected leaders do to protect the nation based on this report. I will do everything I can to make sure Congress moves forward on these recommendations and does not merely use the 9/11 report as another paperweight.

"The report underscores that fighting terrorism must include military action to attack terrorists and their organizations, yet military action alone is insufficient. The United States must use its diplomatic, economic and intelligence-gathering power to undermine support for terrorism.

"The report argues that the 9/11 attacks reveal four main failures: the failure to imagine the kind of catastrophic attack that took place; the failure to make the elimination of terrorism the overriding policy of the United States; the failure to update our capabilities to combat terrorism; and the failure to reorganize the intelligence community to collect and analyze intelligence and act upon what we know.

"I am pleased to read that the Commission expressed strong support for counter- and non-proliferation programs like the Proliferation Security Initiative and the Cooperative Threat Reduction Initiative. The gravest national security threat we face is the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their potential to fall into the wrong hands."