Judy we think that since the 11th of September 2001 we've faced a similar heightened threat level. And we've been enhancing both the exchange of intelligence and security information and the assessment of that information because that's the crucial element.

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.

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.

This president has been reluctant to hold anybody accountable. No one was held accountable after September the 11th. Nobody's been held accountable after the clear flaws in intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq.

The prompt assimilation of that intelligence will be essential if we are to avoid another September 11th.

Since September 11th Congress has created the Department of Homeland Security more than doubled the homeland security budget and implemented a bipartisan overhaul of our intelligence systems.

We will have to continue to improve our human intelligence system-something that was unfortunately lacking in the years which led up to September 11. This is going to be a continuing process of change.

In the aftermath of September 11 and as the 9/11 Commission report so aptly demonstrates it is clear that our intelligence system is not working the way that it should.

The peculiar fascination which the South held over my imagination and my limited capital decided me in favor of Atlanta University so about the last of September I bade farewell to the friends and scenes of my boyhood and boarded a train for the South.

Any attempts at humor immediately after September 11th were deemed tasteless.