July 28, 2003   LIEBERMAN TAKES PRESIDENT, FELLOW DEMOCRATS TO TASK ON SECURITY, FOREIGN POLICY Says Bush's Actions 'threaten to give a just war a bad name’   WASHINGTON - Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) today said that President Bush's conduct of U.S. security and foreign policy is giving the country good reason to question his leadership. Lieberman said the President's failure to plan adequately for post-war Iraq, unwillingness to accept responsibility for the misleading use of intelligence in the State of the Union address, and ongoing failure to learn critical homeland security lessons from September 11th risk setting America back. At the same time, Lieberman warned members of his party against suggesting that the improper use of intelligence and ongoing instability in Iraq give us reason to second-guess the justice of the war to remove Saddam Hussein. "By its actions, the Bush Administration threatens to give a just war a bad name," Lieberman said. "But by their words, some in my party are sending out a message that they don't know a just war when they see it, and, more broadly, are not prepared to use our military strength to protect our security and the cause of freedom." Lieberman said, when fairly criticizing the Bush Administration's lapses of leadership, those in his party have a responsibility to offer concrete proposals to improve our security and foreign policy. "I want the American people to have confidence when it comes to our national security that their leaders are working together and doing everything we can to protect them," Lieberman said. In that spirit, Lieberman called on the Administration to take four urgent steps now to help strengthen our security and restore its credibility here and around the world. Specifically, Lieberman called upon the President to: Immediately strengthen the power of Iraq's Governing Council to help prove that Americans are liberators, not occupiers; Let every line of the 28 pages of the Joint Intelligence Committee report be published -- unless they compromise intelligence sources and methods; Stop resisting and immediately begin fundamental intelligence reform, beginning with urgent consolidation of all federal terrorist watch lists; Take full responsibility for the lapses of leadership and provide the kind of openness and honesty that America needs in this time of crisis.   ###   Printable Version   Related File(s)   Full Statement (40.9 KBs) « previous Press Release next Press Release »   1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 July 2003 Press Releases   July 31 - Lieberman Presses for Administration Leadership, Accountability Pursues Declassification of 27 Redacted Pages   July 30 - Government Privacy Protections Fall Short   July 29 - White House Creating Impression it Has Something to Hide   July 28 current Press Release   July 25 - Dodd, Lieberman Announce $1 Million for Fire Fighters   July 24 - Lieberman Seeks Explanation for "Clear Evidence" of Use of Arbitrary Quotas in Competing Federal Jobs   July 24 - Did Bush Administration do Everything that Could Have Been Done?   July 24 - First Responders Need Additional Resources   July 24 - Lieberman Laments Lack of Homeland Security Resources   July 23 - DLC/PPI: More Evidence of Poor Homeland Security Record   July 16 - Lieberman Challenges Administration Refusal to Acknowledge Security Vulnerabilities   July 11 - DOT IG Documents Abuse of Federal Resources   July 10 - Lieberman Asks Homeland Security IG to Reopen Texas Probe Into Abuse of Federal Authority, First Report Abdicated Key Responsibility   July 9 - Lieberman Warns of Too Little Action on Transportation Security   July 8 - Lieberman: 9-11 Panel Can't do Its Work Without White House Help   July 8 - Lieberman Responds to Bio Terror Report   July 2 - Lieberman Seeks Transparency on Interior's Plans for Highways Through Pristine Public Lands   July 1 - U.S. Intelligence Burdened by Same Handicaps That Failed the Nation on 9/11
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510