Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) issued this statement in response to President Obama releasing a declassified review of the Flight 253 incident.
“I welcome the administration’s decision to publicly release its report on the Detroit attack, and believe it should release the Fort Hood attack and Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainee recidivism reports as well. It is striking that the same factors and actors involved in the Fort Hood attack seem to be at issue in the attempt to bring down a plane over the city of Detroit. I warned after the Fort Hood terrorist attack that we needed tough congressional oversight and hearings to understand the intelligence lapses that happened then to help prevent future attacks.
“The White House still has not shared its Fort Hood report with Congress or the public, but the one thing that seems clear is that the administration did little after it received the report on Nov. 30 of last year. Congress needs the analysis of both attacks to fully understand the shortcomings that need to be addressed to help prevent the next attack.
“The Obama administration’s go-it-alone approach after the Fort Hood attack did not work before and it will not work now. We need tough, independent congressional oversight and hearings to determine the necessary tools, authorities and resources to address the gaps exposed by the Fort Hood and Detroit attacks, and so that our national security apparatus can be forward-leaning in its efforts to detect, disrupt and stop future attacks.
“The American people should not have to rely on luck and passengers’ sheer determination to stop terrorist attacks. They need a government that is working together on the executive and congressional levels to help keep our homeland safe. This did not happen after the Fort Hood terrorist attack, and it is still not happening after the Detroit terrorist attack. The end result, we are not coordinated, and our nation is still vulnerable.
“Republicans remain ready and willing to work with President Obama to help strengthen the safety and security of our homeland, but the president and congressional Democrats have to be willing to reach out and accept our repeated offers to help.”
