Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Politics

Roemer: U.S. still not safe from al-Qaida

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida is gaining strength and the United States is still not as safe as it should be, former Rep. Tim Roemer of Indiana said Saturday.

Speaking about a week after failed bombing attacks in Britain, the 9/11 commission member chided Congress and the White House for not doing enough to secure the country from another attack. Roemer urged lawmakers to move forward on adopting safety measures that the commission suggested and asked President Bush not to threaten to veto the proposed legislation.

"Only half of these bipartisan recommendations have been passed, " Roemer said during the weekly Democratic radio address. "The White House's execution and funding of them has received failing grades."

He identified border security as one of the most critical issues.

"We still do not have the ability to know fully who and what is crossing our borders and sailing into our ports, " he said. "We've left the door open to attacks."

Roemer emphasized his belief that al-Qaida is training more people to participate in terrorist activities and that the war in Iraq is "creating a new generation of jihadists."

He listed information-sharing, infrastructure protection and first responder communication among other domestic priorities to combat these threats.

[Last modified July 8, 2007, 01:25:41]