House Proceeding 11-16-09 on Nov 16th, 2009 :: 1:37:20 to 1:45:00
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1:37:16 to 1:37:36( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: you very much for taking this special order. appreciate it and i'm sure the people across this country share your views. mr. mccaul: i thank the gentleman from indiana and your great comments and you're a true patriot to this country. and i mean that very heartfeltly. we've gotten so wrapped up in

1:37:20 to 1:45:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Michael T. McCaul

1:37:37 to 1:37:59( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: this completecal correctness, we're prohibited from calling in the war on terror. this has been taken out of the very knack lar. you wonder how man like this be transferred and then promoted. with all the flags and contacts with al qaeda recruiters, why -- how did this happen?

1:38:00 to 1:38:20( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: why wasn't that information shared? why when these flags went up were -- weren't we able to act upon it? we know for years that al qaeda has been targeting bases both in the united states and abroad. it's a homeland security threat, it's a national security threat abroad.

1:38:21 to 1:38:41( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: they tried to do that with fort dix and we stopped it with good intelligence. they tried to do iwith other military installations in the united states. so when this evidence got out there, the real question, i think we in the congress need to ask, is why didn't his spear yors know about this? -- superiors know about?

1:38:42 to 1:39:03( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: or when his colleagues heard the rantings and ravings byim, you know, having a business card saying he's a soldier of allah, saying that his loyalty is first and foremost to the koran not the constitution, and the gentleman from indiana's right, i worked in the justice department, federal prosecutor of the joint terrorism task force. the national intelligence

1:39:04 to 1:39:25( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: estimate says the most effective weapon we have is a moderate muslim. the muslim who will come forward and help us in the mosque to say, there is an individual out here thawe believe to be a threat to the security of the united states. obviously this man was. but for whatever reason nothing was done about it and 13

1:39:26 to 1:39:46( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: soldiers are dead and 30 more are wounded. we in the congress have a role, an oversight role, to get to the answers and fix the problem, to make sure it didn't happen. the whole point after 9/11 was to make sure we shared intelligence and information to better protect the american people. i've seen no greater homeland security issue than protecting

1:39:47 to 1:40:07( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: our bases right here in the united states. as i said at the outset, when i visited the soldiers at fort hood for the memorial service, they said, congressman, we see is in iraq and afghanistan but we don't expect that to happen at home. not in our not on our base.

1:40:08 to 1:40:28( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: this was not supposed to happen. and the question is, is this man -- did he infiltrate or was he a lone wolf acting onhis own? without any outside influence we don't know the answer to those questions. we've been told that from the

1:40:29 to 1:40:49( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: very day after this occurred that he was a lone wolf acting on his own. there's a term rush to judgment and in my view i think that was the rush toudgment. the idea that he was acting as a lone wolf. before we got all the evidence in front of us. all we were asking in the

1:40:50 to 1:41:11( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: congress is that we review the matter and i have great hope that the majority will work with us in a bipartisan way to e that oversight that this body, this distinguished body by the constitution, has the authority to do. to get to the real answers for the american people as to whether this man had radicalized on his own which he clearly did

1:41:12 to 1:41:33( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: he radicalized, or whether he was being facilitated by people on the outside. and whether al qaeda had something to do with this because they have a play book and they go back to the play book. they had the world trade center bomber, they went back to the world trade center. you know, they tried to hithe capitol. that's tir play book.

1:41:34 to 1:41:54( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: they'll in my view try to hit the capitol again. chemical explosives, ewe self, when he was arrested in islamabad, had a very chilling story, had multiple baby dolls that he had stuffed with chemical explosives. he was going to take those baby dolls onto airplanes and blow up

1:41:55 to 1:42:16( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: 12 commercial airliners simultaneously. they go back to that play book. we've seen chemical explosives come up over and over again. military installations are in their play book. and we need to take the protection security of our military installations both here in the united states and abroad very, very seriously. and when a man like this gets in

1:42:17 to 1:42:37( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: and gets promoted and perpetrated what he did, one of the greatest acts of violence in a military base since pearl harbor, then we need the answers to these questions. we need -- there are so many flags in this case. not only this individual but what was he doing with pakistan?

1:42:38 to 1:42:58( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: what influence did pakistan have on this individual? the american people need to know the truth. and we need to know it not as a gotcha exercise but as a way to look forward and say, how can we petter protect the american people from individuals like this, and our soldiers from people like this, how can we

1:42:59 to 1:43:20( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: better protect bases here in the united states? we know he contacted many radical websites, posted very radical thoughts on these websites. it's time for us to stand up and have hearings on this matter. and answer these fundamental

1:43:21 to 1:43:41( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: requests. tonight to the families, to the victims, our heart goes out. we hear the cries. as we saw the 13 combat boots, the rifle and the helmet pour trade in that picture -- portrayed in that picture, it was one of the saddest days ant darkest chapters i think in

1:43:42 to 1:44:02( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: american history. as we go forward i believe we need to get the answers to the many, many questions that are out there. part of the hardest thing we have to do as members of congress is to comfort families who have lost their loved ones. i'll never forget that day at

1:44:03 to 1:44:25( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: fort hood at the memorial service talking tohe survivors, particularly some of the spouses who lost their husband that day. to the mothers, fathers and brothers and sisters. talking to the wounded gunmen, i mean, the wounded victims who

1:44:26 to 1:44:47( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: were shot by this man. and as we comfort these feaments, as we have with soldiers -- families, as we have with soldiers coming back from iraq and afghanistan and those who have died, it is one of the most difficult things as members of congress, one of the most solemn responsibilities that we have. we know that words cannot give

1:44:48 to 1:45:01( Edit History Discussion )

Michael T. McCaul: them back what they lost. we grieve their loss in the congress and we stand by the families of the victims and let