Opening Statement

Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26)

Committee on Government Reform

September 29, 2004

Hearing on 9/11 Recommendations

First, I would like to thank Chairman Davis for supporting my appointment to the Government Reform Committee. This appointment gives me the opportunity to help protect the American people from future acts of terrorism by implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. I believe the 9/11 Commission has produced a historic document about the events leading up to the attacks of September 11th. Their recommendations warrant our full attention and scrutiny.

The terrorist attacks of September 11^th and the innocent lives that were lost represent one of the greatest tragedies in American history. In the wake of that devastating attack, it became clear that our government was not prepared for this type of threat and that swift action is imperative in order to defend our nation.

We cannot let the weight of bureaucracy slow the implementation of nearly any program or project to a crawl. This cannot happen when dealing with our homeland defense. The federal government needs to have the ability to gather actionable intelligence quickly and accurately, and to implement plans that will protect the American people from future terrorist attacks.

The legislation that we will consider today makes important improvements to our national intelligence infrastructure that are necessary to ensure that Americans can go about their daily lives safe from terrorism.