David Letterman Quotes

I think that the American people should rest assured and be assured that every federal agency that has a role to play in this terrorism is working overtime now, taking every necessary action to protect our great citizens.

We all must recognize that homeland security funds should be allocated by threat and no other reason.

And finally, let me just say it is a fact that not every city can dedicate resources to terrorism.

And while the U.S. can never be 100 percent safe from a future strike, our government is working around the clock on measures to protect the American people.

Why has an administration that talks so much about terrorism and homeland security demonstrated so little competence when it comes to securing the homeland?

Some intelligence officers filed reports saying that this is a dangerous group, but at one level it was not forwarded, it was just ignored.

I believe when the country feels threatened it is important that we are seen to be working together to find an appropriate structure for dealing with terrorists in our midst.

Despite constant vilifying by the media and congressional threats to take away the tools needed to uncover plots, FBI agents and CIA officers work silently around the clock and risk their own lives to keep us safe.

I go to bed at night worrying that I didn't do enough that day to make sure I protect the American people.

Since the tragedies, the Department of Homeland Security was established to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, and most importantly, to share intelligence information among government agencies and departments.

But I warn my colleagues that we will fail in our efforts to protect the homeland if we do not take additional steps to avoid a trade-off between protecting ourselves against terrorists attacks and preparing for and responding to natural disasters.

Our people are working overtime - I say our people; our federal agencies in this regard - and that I'm confident that the way that you can stop this and make Americans the most protected for this is to take it to the terrorist groups.

I think the idea that you would do everything you can to prevent what is coming at you by way of something very disruptive - a 9/11 - it's a no-brainer.

As the third anniversary of the September 11th attacks draws near we must ensure our nation is prepared to handle the continued threat of violence and terrorism on our country.

The Commission's findings underscore that the nation is still vulnerable to attack and that we must move more quickly to make us safer. We must take the Commission's work and use it to make certain that such horrific attacks never occur again.

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.

The security of the United States, which is so dependent on having accurate and timely intelligence, is not a Republican or a Democratic issue.

But since September 11, we have made every effort to try to work closely with state and local law enforcement.

Intelligence is our first line of defense against terrorism, and we must improve the collection capabilities and analysis of intelligence to protect the security of the United States and its allies.

Historically, decisive security action took place only after a disaster had occurred or a specific plot had been discovered.

The safety and security of the nation depends more so than ever before on intelligence.

When these attacks occur, as they likely will, we will wonder what more we could have done to stop them.

The security [of European national is dependent on the effective intelligence of their neighbors.

Michael Chertoff and the Department of Homeland Security, they have the primary responsibility of ensuring that our ports are secure.

When I was involved in the initial creation of the Department of Homeland Security, we were given a clear twofold mission. The first part of the mission was to secure our borders. The second was to maintain the free and efficient flow of commerce and people.