About | RSS

TPMDC

Reyes Asks For 'Blatant Politicization Of National Security' To Stop

Christina Bellantoni | December 31, 2009, 3:44PM

Spread the word. Share this article on Facebook!

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)

Flight 253, Intelligence community, Silvestre Reyes, Terrorism

Send to a friend!

House Intelligence panel Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes bemoaned the politics that have taken over the investigation into Flight 253 and said Congress must take a "hard look" into what happened leading up to the failed Christmas Day terror attempt.

Reyes (D-TX) said he is closely following the developments and is being briefed by White House and committee staffers. President Obama received the preliminary review today in Hawaii.

"This incident is an incredibly serious and disturbing reminder that intelligence sharing and U.S. security systems are better than they once were, but they're not where they need to be," Reyes said in a statement. "As soon as Congress returns, the Committee will be taking a hard look at what could have been done better in this case and what changes to our intelligence processes may be necessary."

But he also criticized attempts to inject politics into the investigation.

"In the days since the attempted terrorist attack on Flight 253, many people have seized on this issue for their own political gain, both to raise money and get media attention. This behavior is the blatant politicization of national security. It is unacceptable, and it needs to stop," Reyes said.

He added: "We are fortunate that this incident did not have a tragic conclusion. Now, we must identify the lessons learned from this event and rededicate ourselves to improving security screening and better facilitating intelligence sharing. As our Nation did after September 11, we should rally around the President and work constructively, rather than take political potshots."

Comments (6) | Join the Conversation!

Recommend Recommend (2)

i said GOOD DAY sir

December 31, 2009 5:16 PM

Heh, good luck, Rep. Reyes. Unfortunately, the superego separating the Republican id from their conscious mind was removed last November and won't be reattached any time soon.

Reply | Flag Abuse

Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?

mJJ

January 1, 2010 12:07 AM

Finally one sane response to this problem. First we had the complaint by Cheney about how long it took Obama to respond when in fact Bush took many more days to respond to the shoe bomber because Bush was on vacation. Then there is the posturing by both parties about this issue. My own Republican party has gleefully told and retold this situation in an effort to raise money on the basis of this problem. This entire issue is about our country's safety and both parties need to shut up, get the facts, and stop trying to raise money due to this episode. My kid got a fund raiser letter from her Republican Party based on this episode. She just wrote out her check to the Democrats she was so angry at anyone who would try to make money off of this terror attack. Actually, I wondered if she was even accurate about my own party, but alas, the scum has tried to raise money off of this tragedy. Sick. Sick. Sick!!!

Reply | Flag Abuse

Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?

Overreach THIS!

January 2, 2010 7:06 AM in reply to mJJ

Thank you for your indignation. The problem here is obviously that the bureaucracy wasn't set up in a reliable way to deal with this, and it seems *very* likely that individual people didn't do their jobs either (most would be non-political careerists, but let's see what the facts show). What we need to do, as you say, is make sure it's fixed and fixed right. Any of us could have been on that plane and it's not the time to be whipping out your party cards!

You blame both parties: As to Democratic posturing, I have taken heat on here and I'm glad to do that if need be about Napolitano more frightening the country than anything else.
But your quote goes further to the money issues: "Then there is the posturing by both parties about this issue. My own Republican party has gleefully told and retold this situation in an effort to raise money on the basis of this problem. This entire issue is about our country's safety and both parties need to shut up, get the facts, and stop trying to raise money due to this episode." Have Democrats tried to raise money over this that you know, or was that an Overreach? Just asking.

Again, I do appreciate your moral indignation. We are all Americans and we need one another to beat this thing. I think honestly that Cheney appeals to a shrinking audience, so I'm not overly concerned about him. Too shrill and wacky for most IMHO. Happy New Year and a *safe one*, and best for 2010 to you and yours! -O.T.

Reply | Flag Abuse

Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?

MyMy

January 1, 2010 1:21 PM

Good for Reyes.The weird thing is that NO ONE politicized 9/11 except the Republicans. I don't recall even a single finger-pointing over the most horrendous security failure we've ever had, do you? Please someone name one, and certainly not from Democrats, who all rallied around Bush in his moment of failure...

It took the ludicrous foreign policy of Bush to make people finally want to know exactly what went wrong. Hence the (toothless) 9/11 Commission. Still everyone was as polite as possible to this crew of Republican screw ups.

Their thanks? The E-Z shouting from the sidelined Republicans when an unsuccessful terrorist attack took place... Really, have they no shame? Have they no sense of decency?

Reply | Flag Abuse

Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?