Hastert Remarks Show Republicans Once Again Sinking into Politics of Fear

Statement

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on remarks made by Speaker Dennis Hastert over the weekend that al Qaeda would rather have John Kerry as President than George Bush:

"With nothing but a record of failure, Republicans are sinking further into the politics of fear. Two weeks ago, Vice President Cheney tried to instill fear into Americans by saying the country would be at increased risk of a terrorist attack if voters make the 'wrong choice' in November. Now Speaker Hastert has crossed the line from partisan politics into shameless scare tactics.

"Before making these despicable comments, Republicans should remember that the reason Osama bin Laden is still able to threaten the United States, three years after the September 11 attacks, is the utter failure of the Bush Administration to catch him and to destroy his terrorist network. We would be much safer today if President Bush had kept his focus on al-Qaeda, rather than diverting it to Iraq.

"Instead of engaging in fear campaigns, the Speaker should have gotten to work on the 9/11 Commission recommendations two months ago, as Democrats did."

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