The Committee's review of a series of intelligence shortcomings to include intelligence prior to 9/11 and the pre-war intelligence on Iraq clearly reveal how vital a diverse intelligence workforce is to our national security.

A lot of the things that we've been able to do in the last several years were Democratic ideas including the structure for this new director of national intelligence.

As a nation we have over the past seven years been rebuilding our intelligence with powerful capabilities that many thought we would no longer need after the Cold War. We have been rebuilding our clandestine service our satellite and other technical collection our analytical depth and expertise.

Since 2001 the Patriot Act has provided the means to detect and disrupt terrorist threats against the U.S. Prior to enactment of the law major legal barriers prevented intelligence national defense and law enforcement agencies from working together and sharing information.

Not all intelligence can be artificial now so if we make a mistake the consequences are no longer simply located within an institution or a national culture.

Mr. Speaker we are a blessed Nation. We have not suffered another attack on our soil since September 11 and we are grateful. We have killed or captured dozens of members of al Qaeda and the Taliban. Our military and intelligence forces are working both hard and smart.

Over the course of two years we arrived at a point where we began to look at the value added by making information more easily accessible across the intelligence community both defense and national.

I can remember when I was National Security Adviser the intelligence community told us... they put out an intelligence report saying that Iran would never back off from attacks on shipping in the Gulf if we use force.

The National Intelligence Director needs the authority to do the job we are asking him to do. That means power over the intelligence budget. And to be effective to be allowed to do his or her job they must have authority over the budget.

The 9/11 Commission strongly recommends that the National Intelligence Director be fully in control of the budget from developing it to implementing it to ensuring that the National Intelligence Director has the clout to make decisions.

If you imagine someone with 100 percent determination and 100 percent intelligence you can discard a lot of intelligence before they stop succeeding. But if you start discarding determination you very quickly get an ineffectual and perpetual grad student.

Someday we'll learn the whole story of why George W. Bush brushed off that intelligence briefing of Aug. 6 2001 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.' But surely a big distraction was the major speech he was readying for delivery on Aug. 9 his first prime-time address to the nation.

Louis Freeh said on national TV that actionable intelligence could have allowed us to stop the hijackings.

The Intelligence Committee will also examine present counterintelligence programs for the Department of Energy the National Laboratories and the Department of Defense.

Legislation passed in the aftermath of September 11 2001 enhanced our intelligence capabilities and strengthened our national defense but until now our nation's immigration policies have not adapted to the needs of a post-September 11th world.

The PATRIOT Act brought down the wall separating intelligence agencies from law enforcement and other entities charged with protecting the Nation from terrorism.

I have had national security background 10 years on the Intelligence Committee the last two years as chair.

The Patriot Act removed major legal barriers that prevented the law enforcement intelligence and national defense communities from talking and coordinating their work to protect the American people and our national security.

I will not nor will I ever publicly divulge sensitive intelligence sources and methods. For when that happens our national security is endangered and lives can be lost.

The original PATRIOT Act greatly increased our nation's ability to share intelligence information made better use of technology and provided terrorism investigators tools that have long been available in cases involving illegal drugs and organized crime.

You can't get closer to the heart of national sovereignty than national security and intelligence services.

In the fight against terrorism national agencies keep full control over their police forces security and intelligence agencies and judicial authorities.

Improving our national intelligence capabilities should remain a top priority and a continual process.

Our intelligence community needs better coordination of operations and exchange of information and that's why we need an overall director of national intelligence and a national counterterrorism center.