U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

December 5, 2005

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600

 

Sen. Salazar: Nation “Cannot Afford to be Failing” 9/11 Commission’s Report Card

WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar today released the following statement in response to the Final Report on the 9/11 Commission Recommendations:

“The 9/11 Commission’s latest report is extremely concerning. We cannot afford any failing grades on this report card.

“Four years after the September 11 attacks and more than a year after the 9/11 Commission’s final report, this Nation is still woefully under prepared for a catastrophe. We received an ‘F’ in improving radio communications for first responders, a ‘D’ in assessing our most vulnerable infrastructure, a ‘D’ on sharing counterterrorism information and a ‘D’ on efforts to secure weapons of mass destruction.

“The 9/11 Commission gave us a road map to a safer America. We cannot wait for another attack to begin paying attention to it.

“One of the first critical steps we need to take is improving radio communications for our first responders. We saw the costs of this failure during Hurricane Katrina, when our police officers, firefighters and medical personnel were working blindly without the ability to talk to one another. Who knows how many lives were lost because rescue efforts were uncoordinated? We need to make a major investment in emergency communications, which is why I cosponsored legislation to revamp the Department of Homeland Security’s interoperable efforts and dramatically improve communications equipment and coordination on the ground.

“We also need to move quickly to establish an independent Katrina Commission. Hurricane Katrina slapped the nation with a reality: we are not prepared to protect our homeland even when we have advance warning of catastrophe. The failure to prepare for and respond to Katrina was shameful. But it would be an even greater shame for our nation not to learn from that failure. Every day that we go without this Katrina Commission is a day lost. It puts us a day further from uncovering the hard truth, and getting started on the hard work, that is necessary to protect the American people.”

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